Dream Eater
by twinklingbats
Summary: Plagued by horrible nightmares, Miku is visited by a boy who claims to have the ability to make all her bad dreams disappear. In desperation she agrees to make a contract with the mysterious creature, but what will happen now that she has a baku watching over her? {Based off the song "Dream Eating Monochrome Baku" and "Sleeping Princess".}
1. Dream Eater

He detached himself from the darkness, dragging his obsidian eyes over the rows of perfectly spaced houses bathed in the light of a waning full moon. Sauntering past them, he twirled a cane languidly between his slender gloved fingers.At first glance the boy would have seemed to be wandering aimlessly, however, the creature's leisurely pace was only a facade. Though unapparent, his attention was honed on a specific task, the destination in his mind's eye growing closer by the minute.

Effortlessly his senses led him to the unmistakable aroma pervading the streets, the scent beckoning him to the next troubled human who required his assistance. Despite the urgency he may have at one point felt to relieve his targets of their pains, the creature had experienced these nights far too many times in his life, and his work had long ceased to amuse him. So for now, he paid no heed to the passage of time, his shadow lazily warping at grotesque angles under the light of the streetlamps. The fetid scent of troubled dreams led him as if he were attached to an invisible string, pulling him and enveloping his senses with the smell of adrenaline and fear.

The night was placidly tranquil, even the persistent cry of crickets' songs seeming dull and sleepy in the darkness. Around him the world lay silent as he continued his stroll, the soles of his shoes soundlessly advancing on the empty road that stretched ahead of him. Though he could have effortlessly arrived to the exact place he had to be, being able to wander outside freely still managed to please him. It was times like this, as everyone lay sleeping in their beds, that he felt a particular stillness fall over the world; as if time itself had stopped ticking and lay motionless, bathing the world in an eternal slumber.

He continued on his way, giving no second glances to the rows of homes that surrounded him from both sides. A few more houses were passed by until he stopped abruptly, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. The streetlamps cast upon his gaze, a predatory glint flashing through his eyes as he took in the sight of the unassuming house before him. He stepped from the sidewalk onto the dewy grass that led to one of the many neat, cookie cutter homes that endlessly lined the streets. Though the house appeared to be no different from the rest, a familiar scent hung heavy and low in the air, like a heady, noxious smoke. He followed the smell to an inconspicuous window, the acrid scent of fresh nightmares closer than ever as he approached the darkened glass. With an upwards gesture of his hand, the untouched pane slid open silently with ease.

The boy reclined against the sill, parting a curtain with his gloved hand before scanning the room with half open lids. He observed the layout of the space, entirely unsurprised at finding nothing out of the ordinary. To the right side of the room lay a pristine white desk piled high with what he assumed to be textbooks. To the left, closer to where he perched stood a vanity, and a dresser to its right of the same color. What would be vivid pink walls in the daylight were dulled in the inky blackness of the late hour.

To no surprise, he found himself peering into the room of a teenage girl. He truthfully couldn't recall the last time he _hadn't_ found himself offering his services to one, though his bias towards them undoubtedly altered his work. At that age in their lives, he noted that humans had the ability to produce considerably more tangible and horrific nightmares as the overwhelming stresses and expectations of adulthood created a sort of playground for malevolent thoughts that slipped into the sleeping mind. To him this was a blessing, as he was always choosy about which people he would offer to provide services to as it was, and young women were his favorite type of mortal. Though he was never the type to complain when finding himself in the company of anything young and beautiful. For these reasons, it wasn't surprising that he was often assisting a very specific type of human.

Already effortlessly adjusted to the darkness, his eyes fell upon what had caught his attention in the first place, and what until now, he had promptly chose to ignore. Across from the sill on which he rested lay a simple yet plush bed. Within the small space a young girl violently thrashed about, crumpled sheets entangling her limbs like ropes as she struggled to escape whatever hidden monster hunted her within her troubled sleep.

He watched the teen impassively, a whimper falling from her lips as her desperation grew, evidently struggling to escape the horrors of her subconscious. From her reaction and his freshly assaulted senses, the boy could tell that her nightmare was reaching it's crescendo. His gaze continued to rest upon the sleeping victim, his hunger nowhere near insatiable despite the smell of her nightmares pervading the air like a sickly sweet smoke. Still, the scent relentlessly beckoned for him, the taste of corruption, tempting and mouth watering, invited him to come and feast. To a human, if they could smell it, he knew it would be revolting- a pungent and metallic mix of horror and adrenaline. But to his kind, nightmares were precious delicacies, capable of leading even demons to the realm of humans for a taste.

A few moments passed before the girl started and sat up, her face sickly pale as beads of sweat fell down her face with the tears. Struggling to regain consciousness, she inhaled sharply, her head swimming with the delirium that accompanied half consciousness and lack of sleep. Though aware that she was within the safety of her room, her breathing was still no more than erratic gasps as she tried in vain to sharpen her foggy mind. After a few moments her bloodshot eyes adjusted to the darkness, but her efforts to stay awake proved to be fruitless. Sharp bolts of panic welled up inside of the girl as she felt the unwelcome sensations of drowsiness already tugging at her heavy lids, luring her away to the world of her dreams. Though in her exhausted state she longed for nothing more than to succumb to sleep, she knew that she would find no peace in her rest.

Aware that she was quickly falling into the unwanted thralls of slumber, the girl forced her brain to retrace the past few agonizing weeks of her previously simple life, a habit she'd adopted in a desperate attempt to both discover the source of her agony and stave off the advances of sleep. After a few nights of waking from dismal slumbers, it had become a constant, almost automatic response for her. And so she found herself a few times each night wracking her mind for anything that could have affected her subconscious deeply enough to cause the relentless dreams. Though it was frustrating, exhausting work, she continued the practice with unwearied persistence, always reasoning that if she could discover the root of her fears, she could destroy whatever was plaguing her mind as she fought for rest. As strenuous as the task had become, she was determined to do almost anything to avoid wandering through the endlessly twisted worlds her brain seemed to relish thinking up, if only for a few minutes. Eventually she knew her mind would no longer be able to concentrate and give out, and she would once more find herself being dragged into a land of endless horrors. Though until then, she forced herself to try her best to simply _think_ , longing for the nights she once took for granted, when she could sleep peacefully and truly feel safe in her bed.

The girl couldn't quite place when these troubles had first started. Originally it seemed to be just drowsiness, a persistent feeling throughout the day that made her feel like she was stuck in a constant state of slow motion that left her brain foggy and unfocused. Though she felt consumed by exhaustion during the day, at night, she could not find a moment's rest. More and more often she would spend precious hours tossing and turning as she struggled with restlessness. On those nights, she would pull the blankets over her head and squeeze her eyes shut tight, silently begging her mind to relax and shut off. Eventually, though, she would find herself staring into the darkness of her room, her mind buzzing and hyper alert throughout the night. There she would lay awake for hours, listening to the soft rhythmic tick of her alarm clock. It served as an urgent reminder that too soon the sun would rise, and with it, another day of fatigue ready to weigh down heavily upon her body whether she was ready for it or not.

When she wasn't battling insomnia, she would succumb to an inky blackness, losing herself to the world around her. She could only doze off for so long before she would feel like she was falling, her stomach dropping as if she were plummeting into an endless abyss until she would jolt awake, breathing heavily as her heart beat so quickly she swore it would burst from her chest.

The last straw was the nightmares. When she was finally able to rid herself of insomnia and lose herself to the throes of slumber, horrible dreams made her wish she was once more suffering from sleeplessness instead. They haunted her waking hours, ceaselessly making her fear the inevitable moment when she would have to release herself from reality and be fully immersed into whatever terrors her subconscious could create.

Of course, this strange behaviour didn't go unnoticed by those around her. She was a responsible student, actively participating in many school activities and clubs. The first logical assumption was that she was taking on too much responsibility. She reasoned that mixed with the stress of school, she had been overworking herself. Her parents urged her to take more breaks from her work and spend more time with friends. After a few weeks of taking more time for herself, it was evident that nothing was seeming to work. If anything, the nightmares were only becoming more vivid, almost as real as the world around her. Though it couldn't have been more than a few weeks, exhaustion had taken its toll on the girl and was slowly eating away at her health by the day. Though it terrified her to admit it, the nightmares were slowly destroying her.

She winced as she dug her nails into the soft skin of her forearm in hopes that the sudden sharpness of the pain would take away some of the drowsiness, anything to fend off the nightmares for a few more minutes. Despite her exhaustion, the horrors she had just endured clung to her, relentlessly replaying in her head as if she were still asleep. She shook her head, loosened locks of hair flowing from side to side as she held tight to the few remaining slivers of her deteriorating consciousness. As a last resort, she clapped her hands against her face, the sting on her cheeks causing tears to prick at the corner of her eyes. Frustrated and afraid, she pulled her knees to her chest, covering her face as a fresh wave of sobs wracked through her frail body.

She paused, a noise she hadn't noticed before catching her attention from the other end of her room. She lifted her head from her knees, tears still streaming down her face as she peered into the darkness. Squinting, her attention was drawn to her window. Another sudden breeze and she discovered the source of the noise: her curtains snapping in the night air. She tilted her head to the side, trying to recall when she had opened the window that day. As she watched the curtains sway in the breeze, her eyes adjusted, her mind beginning to race as adrenaline pumped through her tired body. In contrast to the hazy, illuminated darkness of the outside world, she could just pick out the blurry silhouette of a boy.

She jolted, opening her mouth to scream, but before a sound could escape her throat a black gloved hand was clamped over her lips. Her eyes widened in bewilderment at the strange boy standing before her, hardly able to comprehend how he had gotten across her room so quickly. She had involuntarily latched onto the stranger's hand, panic surging through the girl as her pulse echoed in her ears with every beat of her racing heart. Though she struggled to get away from the intruder, she couldn't seem to move from where she sat.

The girl stopped struggling somewhat as she turned her full attention to the boy when he spoke.

"You don't need to be afraid, alright? I'm here to help you," the stranger explained earnestly. "I'm going to let you go now, I need you to stay calm."

With his free hand, the boy placed an index finger over his lips, indicating to the girl that she must be quiet. Though frightened to be alone with a stranger in her room, the boy's face seemed soft and kind. Understanding his request, the girl slowly nodded, and cautiously lowered her hands to her sides. Though still visibly shaking from the shock of his unanticipated arrival, the girl tried to release the tension from her still panicked body as she forced her mind to think clearly. After she had visibly relaxed, the boy removed his hand from her mouth.

The girl immediately darted from the bed, letting out an audible gasp as tangled bedsheets caught at her ankles. Only a few feet away, in a moment she was free of the sheets and had reached the exit in a matter of seconds. Practically throwing her weight against the door, she grabbed the knob and yanked it open with force.

Light from the hallway streamed into the girl's bedroom, and waiting for her on the threshold of the door stood the stranger.

She inhaled sharply, too shocked to scream as she struggled to understand how he could move so quickly.

"I thought I told you to stay calm," the boy muttered irritably. He advanced towards the girl in large strides, a look of mild annoyance softening as the panicked girl backed away. After securing the door behind him, he quickly approached the girl and placed a hand to either side of her face.

"I said I was here to help you," he repeated more firmly as he stared into the other's eyes.

Feeling a bit less afraid, the girl's curiosity got the better of her as she found her eyes darting over the boy's features. Though she quickly broke contact and stepped away, she took note of the dramatic contrast between pale skin and eyes that seemed as dark as a starless sky. His features were sharp and impish, and his skin seemed to softly glow, the exuding radiance reminding her of moonlight. His hair, the color of a bright yellow full moon, was pulled back neatly, revealing ears with pointed tips. On his head sat a black boater hat. The entirety of his outfit gave off a sense of elegance, his otherwise monochrome attire splashed with a shade of yellow similar to his hair. Despite the ethereal beauty of the creature standing before her, the girl remained wary. While she'd certainly describe him as handsome, his dark eyes remained deep and unreadable and his pointed ears unsettled her and assured her that whoever he was, he certainly didn't belong to her world.

She contemplated the possibility that she had fallen asleep without realising, and that this was just another outlandish dream her brain had produced for her to fight through. She tensed at the thought, praying that the boy would not suddenly warp into something cruel and morbid as things tended to do when she slept.

"Who are you?" she breathed out, uncertainty etched in her brow as she stared at the creature in front of her.

Trying to not roll his eyes, he opted to disregard the girl's unnecessary question. "It seems you've been having some trouble sleeping, young lady," the strange boy calmly replied.

"How did you know that?!" the girl began to protest, her voice rising in panic, but the boy cut her off.

"I know all about your nightmares, Miku," he replied, leering at the confused look that bloomed over the girl's face. "And if you truly think this is a dream, I'd suggest you stop acting so surprised."

As predictable as humans could be, he always relished the moment when they realized they weren't alone, that their mundane little world was less black and white than they'd once thought. He took a moment to watch her, admiring the girl's youthful appearance- a young, naive little thing, face lit with wonder despite the fear. She appeared to be no more than seventeen or eighteen by the look of her. His gaze dragged past the cascading locks of hair trailing down her slender back to her equally turquoise eyes. He let his gaze linger over her face, smiling slightly at her parted lips and incredulous expression. She was undoubtedly gorgeous, he realized suddenly, but quickly brushed the thought away before speaking once more.

"It's my job to know. I'm a dream eater, a _baku_ , if you will, and I'm pleased to do just that. I'll take all these horrible dreams away, if you'll allow it." He placed a hand to his chest and bowed slightly.

The girl stared at him from a moment, scepticism written all over her face. As she opened her mouth to speak, the boy leaned forward, their faces inches apart.

"'How do you know I'm not lying?'" he purred, his look seductive and challenging, despite being wearied by her predictable inquiries. The baku stared into Miku's enchantingly bright eyes as he pulled away from her face and stood, ambling about the darkened room with a newfound feeling of bemusement. He spun his white cane familiarly between graceful fingers as the girl searched for words.

"It seems I may be here a while…" the baku sighed.

Miku heard the boy snap his fingers, and looked up to see a pure white teacup and saucer hovering before him. In another moment, a small silver spoon and sugarcubes materialized, clanking into the china cup. The spoon began to move simultaneously with the boy's spinning index finger, stirring whatever strange liquid was inside. A purple and gold steam billowed out of the cup as the baku took it in his hand. About to take a sip, he met eyes with the astonished girl, concealing an impish smirk behind the lip of his teacup.

"My apologies, Miku!" he exclaimed. "I never asked if you'd like any." He strided across the room, extending the cup and saucer to the girl in a cordial manner.

Miku shrieked, tangling herself in bed sheets as she jerked away from the boy's offering.

"Oh, now you've done it," he murmured in mock exasperation, glancing pointedly at something to the left side of Miku.

The girl turned to see what he was looking at, eyes falling to her bedroom door just as it opened.

Light spilled from the hallway into the girl's room, causing her vision to burst with color.

"Miku, sweetheart, are you alright?" her mother asked, concern evident in her voice as she entered the room.

The girl frantically blinked her eyes before looking back to where the boy had been standing, but nothing was there. She was once again alone in her room, no sign of anything having been amiss moments before.

"Did you have a nightmare?" the woman questioned, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"Y-yeah, but I'm fine, mom," Miku replied. "You can go back to sleep."

The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, worry still etched over her features as she looked down at her daughter. Miku was still looking quite pale, she observed, the shadows under her eyes making her face look gaunt, but she hadn't heard her crying out in her sleep that night. Though she was still deeply concerned, her mother sighed, and with a nod she wished the girl goodnight. After the door was once again shut, Miku sighed.

"Just a dream…" she muttered, relaxing slightly despite her bewilderment, until laughter rang in her ear.

Miku started back as the baku once again stood before her.

"Now, now, young lady. You and I both know that was _not_ a dream," he snickered. "Have I gone out of my way enough for you to trust me? Or is another magic trick in order…?"

The girl's breath grew less ragged, never letting her eyes leave the boy as she regained her composure, the reality of her bizarre situation causing her heart to pound and her stomach to flutter. After some time, her body relaxed. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

"S-so if this is all true," Miku wavered, her eyes falteringly meeting with his, "if you can take away my nightmares… Can you tell me what's causing them, too?"

The dream eater sighed offhandedly, and opted to explore her bedroom as he spoke. "Demons, malevolent spirits. Creatures that obtain their nourishment by feeding off the fears of the innocent…" He wandered over to the vanity and picked up a bottle of perfume. The baku stared at the dull colored glass in the moonlight, watching the liquid tilt inside the bottle as he swirled it around. He found the room had a sweet scent to it, something light and floral, and assumed that the bottle held the source of the pleasant aroma. Frowning, he snapped his fingers, and a strange golden light flickered beside him. "Much better," he cooed quietly in admiration, watching the color of the bottle as it now vividly sparkled in the strange glow. "The more fear, the stronger they become," he continued on. "Demons have methods of eliciting this fear in high amounts, you see. In cases like yours, they weave horrible nightmares that plague their victims consciousness by day and keep them awake by night. The more tired and weak the person becomes, the easier it is for a demon to prey upon them... and before you know it..." the boy sighed, eyes downcast as he crushed the golden fragments of light in his fist, "you're only a hollow shell of your former self."

A sob caught in Miku's throat as fear welled up inside of her. "Please," she begged, "you have to help me. These dreams are doing exactly as you say. I can hardly sleep at night anymore, it's eating away at me. I can't go on like this. Can you... please… won't you take these nightmares away?"

The boy's gaze softened as Miku began to cry a bit louder. "Of course I will," he replied kindly. Setting down the bottle, he walked towards Miku. "I have the perfect spell for combatting this sort of thing. All we have to do now is seal the deal." He extended his hand before the girl.

Miku blinked in confusion. "A... pinky promise...?" she asked curiously, unsure of how to respond to the strange gesture.

The boy laughed lightly, "I know it's strange, but this is the proof of our contract. My promise to take away these terrible dreams." His eyes met with the girl's, and his expression altered. "What a beautiful color…" he absentmindedly whispered as he stared into Miku's bright turquoise eyes.

Her face flushed with the earnestness in the other's voice. She stuttered a hasty "thank you" in reply and extended her hand, linking little fingers with the boy.

The baku grinned. "Our deal is sealed." He helped Miku climb back into her bed. Once the sheets were properly tucked in and Miku seemed comfortable, he spoke again. "Now, young miss," he began, sitting on the edge of the girl's bed, "tell me all about these horrid dreams."

The girl paused before taking a shaky breath. She grasped a sheet in her hand, and absentmindedly wrang the fabric between her fingers as she struggled to think of where she should begin. After a minute of expectant silence, she opened her mouth and began her tale.

"I wake up in a world of shadows… There's hardly any light so I can barely see a thing. I try to walk around, but I seem to be going nowhere. It seems like I wander in there for for hours. My head aches and pounds and I have to strain my eyes to see anything. No matter which way I turn, there's just darkness, nothing else to tell me where I am or if I'm even really moving. When I get frustrated and try to give up... That's when I begin hearing the voices. They're all so familiar, like my friends and family. But everyone is speaking at a distance, and all at once, so I follow the sounds. When I think I start getting closer, everything changes and the space gets even darker. And that's when…" she paused, biting her lip.

"It's alright," the dream eater whispered. "I'll protect you from these terrible dreams… Carry on when you can."

Miku nodded, and after a deep breath continued. "I feel like I'm being watched. And then the voices seem to be coming from behind me… I turn around and I see a someone I know, it's different with every dream, but it's always someone I care about, just standing there. Only something's wrong with them. Their arms hang loosely at their sides, and they're slouching, like a puppet on loosened strings. Their heads are tilted to an angle that almost looks painful, and their mouths gape open, drooling. But the worst part is when I look into their eyes. … there's only darkness. It's like their eyes were gouged out of their head, and horrible black holes have taken their place. Soon their body begins to convulse and the blackness of their eyes seems to leak and fall onto their face and down their mouths like tarry blood. That's when I panic and try to run, and they stagger after me. More and more people I know, and there's always something wrong with them. Sometimes there's a horrible smell, and that's when I notice their entrails tumbling out onto the floor. Other times they're covered in blood, or missing teeth, or limbs… It's always something different and terrible. I try to get away as fast as I can, but my legs don't want to work, and the ground gets sticky. The harder I try to escape, the closer they get until they're tearing at my body. Soon I can hardly run anymore, like whatever's on their face is all over the ground. And when they grab onto me… I wake up…" 

By the time Miku completed her story, tears were spilling down her cheeks as she shook. The baku caressed her face, and produced a small handkerchief from the air with a flourish of his hand. He extended the cloth, and wiped the liquid away from Miku's bloodshot eyes.

"Such pure tears…" he muttered. "You do not deserve this agony. I'm happy to take away these dreams."

Feeling the gentleness of his touch, Miku calmed down a bit. She sniffled, thanking the baku for his services once again.

The dream eater smiled in reply. "The pleasure is all mine, young lady." He turned towards her window, eyeing the dark world outside. "However, I'm afraid I must leave you soon. But rest assured, you no longer have anything to fear."

"I have one more question…" the girl paused a moment before earnestly staring at the boy as she spoke. "What's your name…?"

The baku paused for a moment, placing a finger to his chin as he thought. "I don't get asked that often…" he muttered, the edge of his lips curling wryly. "You may call me Len," he concluded with a cordial smile.

"Len…" Miku whispered. "Thank you for helping me…"  
"You should rest now," he replied.

The dream eater watched as Miku laid down in bed, pulling the blanket to her chest. Once her head was comfortably rested upon her pillow, Len gently waved his hand over her forehead. A light shimmer of golden sparks popped over Len's open palm with the motion. The blackness of his glove mixed with the color reminded the girl of stardust.

"Rest peacefully, Miku," the baku whispered, pulling his hand away.

Miku's eyes became heavy as Len spoke and a sudden wave of contentedness and warmth she hadn't felt in weeks seemed to flow through her. As she succumbed to sleep, she watched the baku disappear as the curtains enveloped his silhouette before the world faded to blackness.

Outside, the boy smiled to himself in satisfaction. He leaned against the side of her home, crossing his arms as he peered up at the sky, his eyes reflecting the dim glow of the waning moon's light.

"Oh, Miku…" he purred as a pleased, toothy grin bloomed over his face, "What delicious dreams you shall provide."

 **Thanks for reading! Please feel free to review!**


	2. Favor

Miku woke the next morning to rays of golden sunlight filling her room. She blinked groggily, shielding her eyes from the brightness of early morning as dust particles caught the light. She took a moment to observe the flecks as they twirled lazily through the air. A sudden shock of panic burst through her body as she started up to check the time, only to realize with a flood of relief that it was Saturday morning. Knowing that she wouldn't be late for school, the girl relaxed and fell back onto her mattress with a contented sigh, ready to allow herself another hour or so of rest. Though she only desired to fall back to sleep, a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something persistently hung in her thoughts. Trying to push the feeling away, she rolled onto her side, reasoning that she'd get a text if she was forgetting to meet a friend or attend some extracurricular as she pulled the covers over her shoulder. Her eyes were closed for only a brief moment before they once more shot open in surprise. Memories from the evening before flowed over the girl in an instant. Only then did she realize what had been different— she had slept peacefully through the night.

 _A strange boy in her room... A solution to her nightmares... A deal to take them away._

It all seemed like another outlandish dream to Miku, but she knew all too well that it couldn't be the case. The "dream" was too real, and the results spoke for themselves— Miku had slept peacefully for the first time in weeks. A smile grew on the young girl's lips and she laughed as relief flooded through her. Suddenly much more awake, Miku slid her sheets away with a burst of enthusiasm as she prepared to start her day, feeling happier and more alive than she had in weeks. As she bounced out of bed, her eye caught something as it fluttered gently to the floor. With a growing curiosity she bent down to retrieve the object. Her heart skipped a beat as she daintily picked up a pure white handkerchief. She almost expected the soft square of fabric to disappear before her as she examined it with wide eyes. She twisted the fabric between her fingers, admiring the rose and constellation-like patterns that were carefully sewn around the hem of the cloth. The girl beamed, clutching the last bit of proof she needed to her chest. No longer doubting the reality of the strange events that had transpired only a few hours earlier, Miku sent a silent prayer of thanks to the strange creature she'd encountered before going about the rest of her morning with a lightheartedness she hadn't been able to muster for weeks.

~x~

For the next few days, Miku woke every morning from a peaceful yet dreamless slumber. Feeling more content than ever, she slowly became accustomed to getting a good night's rest again, and gradually her body began showing signs of improvement. The dark shadows of fatigue faded from beneath her eyes, her cheeks lost their hollow edge and again took on their typical rosy glow, and Miku had her signature bounce back once more. Friends and family were relieved to see that Miku was finally acting like herself again, and slowly life began to regain its normalcy again. Almost a weekpassed from her first encounter with Len, and still she rested peacefully.

~x~

The girl leaned back in her desk chair, stretching her arms as she paused for a much needed break. Textbooks lay open next to notes written in a neat and orderly script. She looked back at her laptop, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to focus on the small text through the glare of the brightened screen. She worked a while longer, before she caught herself nodding off at her desk. With a sleepy yawn, Miku glanced at the clock on her laptop.

"Almost one," she sighed tiredly, pushing her chair away from the desk. "Time to go to bed…" she managed past another yawn. Miku closed her textbooks and gathered her notes into a neat pile before powering down her laptop. Making her way to the other side of her room, she opened up a drawer and reached for a simple light teal nightgown spattered with white polka dots. As she changed into her pajamas, her mind began to wander as she prepared for another night's rest.

Though she was pleased to be waking up from gentle, restful slumbers, she still felt something was missing. After being accustomed to having normal dreams when she would sleep, and then being plunged into a world of nightmares, Miku was quite familiar with travelling through the realm of her dreams. After her contract with the baku, however, things had dramatically changed. Instead of entering another land in her sleep, Miku would dream of utter nothingness, as if she were waking up from a comatose state every morning. Though she felt eternally indebted to Len for rescuing her from her wicked dreams, she missed entering a world of her own after she laid her head onto her pillow at night. While nothingness was better than being greeted with gore and shadows when she slept, she missed dreaming of the adventures she couldn't partake in during her waking hours. Though she was a deeply disciplined and successful student by day, Miku was still a normal teenager, and her imagination could be quite active when she allowed it. Though her serious approach to her studies was admired by her family and friends, she would often feel that she was missing out on things her peers were taking time to enjoy in their teenage years. While she was by all means a social, even popular girl, school took up most of her time and prevented her from experiencing some of the things she wished to do. Because of this, Miku would turn to the world of dreams, living small bits of life that she didn't have time to enjoy during the day. In her dreams, she was entirely free to do as she pleased, so the sudden absence of nightly romance and adventure was a change Miku was unhappy to accept, despite her escape from her nightmarish dreams.

Fully dressed, Miku crawled into bed. Surrounded by soft pillows and warm sheets, the girl almost instantly drifted off to sleep.

~x~

He made his way to the familiar window, gazing into the inky sky as he approached his destination. Stars vibrantly twinkled above him, making the blackness of the night sky look even emptier when compared to their glow. Even the moon seemed to bare its teeth at the boy, mockery in its pale and waning grin as it glared down on him. Reaching Miku's window, he cast a sleeping spell over the home before entering her room, a preventative measure so no unintended guests would wake when he was around. Couldn't have anyone getting in his way, after all.

Once inside, he wasted no time as he soundlessly advanced upon the silhouette of a sleeping figure.

Even in the darkness her teal hair seemed to shine, spread over her pillows in perfect ringlets. His gaze darted to her eyes, eyelashes brushing cheeks the color of pure white moonlight as she slumbered, quiet breaths escaping her slightly parted lips. Even before the nightmares began he was sure that she always looked so beautiful, undeniably peaceful as she rested, gently tucked into her plush bed… though tonight she lay completely unaware of the creature looming above her.

"Just as I thought…" Len mused as he gazed down at the girl ensnared within her slumber.

He watched as Miku's features twisted into a pained expression, her body tensing with anxiety and fear as she dreamt. Upon closer inspection, small gray cracks were scattered across her face, their dark contrast to her luminous skin reminded Len of a broken porcelain doll. Invisible to the human eye, to a dream eater these marks were physical confirmation that a human was being overcome with nightmares.

He inched a black glove off his hand, tucking the article into a pocket once it was removed. Len placed a light kiss to his bare fingers, soft lips barely touching the skin before leaning over the sleeping girl. Gracing Miku's forehead with the tips of his fingers, the baku lightly dragged his hand over the girl's right eye, relishing the softness and slight warmth radiating from her skin. He pulled away after a final caress of her cheek. The moment Len removed his fingers from her skin, monochrome cracks began to form across Miku's face once more, insidiously crawling over her features and pulsating like poisoned veins before disappearing beneath her flesh. Another grimace fell across her features, her shoulders tensing for a moment before a sigh escaped her lips like a dying breath and she once again relaxed into a state of deep sleep.

"We'll be seeing each other soon," the baku purred quietly before he turned on his heel and left, grinning like the waning moon.

~x~

He drank the night air in, allowing himself to be enveloped in the darkness of the slumbering world. A black silhouette amongst a veil of shadows, he basked in the monochrome paradise that only a new moon could truly create. Even if the world would soon be bathed in the light of dawn, he always cherished the fleeting moments when time seemed to stop around him, as humans allowed themselves to succumb to the nightly illusions of their dreams, comfortably naive to the gloom lurking outside their doors. Sadly, Len knew his time of quietude was as short-lived as the moonless nights.

He didn't need to follow the acrid scent of nightmares to find his way to its victim. He arrived before Miku's bedroom window, the smell of pure terror making his mouth water before he could even take a step inside.

~x~

The gut wrenching feeling of freefall stopped as abruptly as it started as Miku's eyes shot open. In the haze of late night she could still register that she was safely in her room, the horrific sensation she'd experienced just another malicious dream. The vision of being pushed out of a second story window at her school flashed behind her eyelids, making Miku feel nauseous and lightheaded. She knew sitting in her classroom tomorrow would undoubtedly make her feel queasy, and that she'd be avoiding the windows for the next few days. Miku sighed and flopped back down onto her bed, troubled by the unfortunate dream. She stared into space, waiting for sleep to take her, when something dark skittering across her peripheral vision caught her attention.

"Len!" Miku called, sitting up excitedly. She looked around her room, but felt her heart sink as she realized no one was there.

She flopped back onto her bed, disappointed that she hadn't seen the boy since the night of their contract. She was curious about him, and wanted to get to know the elusive creature more. If it weren't for the handkerchief she constantly kept close, she would have begrudgingly brushed off her odd encounter as nothing more than a dream by then.

As she lay in bed, her gaze wandered through the darkness. She glanced over to a wall, the typical shadows seeming to suddenly distort and move in the murkiness. Miku flipped on her bedside lamp and screamed as hundreds of spiders frantically skittered across her walls and onto the ceiling and floor. She turned and saw that every wall was similarly swarming with arachnids. The girl bolted from her bed, frantically reaching for the door. She instinctively jumped back as spiders crawled towards her in hordes, effortlessly making ground the moment her feet touched the floor. Miku pulled farther away from the advancing creatures, half conscious that she was moving farther from the closest exit. Her moment of hesitation proved fatal, the spiders engulfing the door and fast approaching her bed. Against her better judgement, Miku decided to make a run for it. She shot for the door again and snagged the knob just as the first few spiders began crawling up her legs. She felt her mouth water with the scratching sensation of spiders as they clung and scaled up her skin. Fighting back her nausea, Miku swatted away at the bugs as they crawled onto her, but for each spider she managed to knock off were endless more to take its place. She tried to turn the knob, only to see hundreds of spiders descending onto her hand and up her arm. Miku let go of the knob with a yelp, stamping her feet as she frantically shoved the spiders off her body. Despite her efforts, the arachnids were much quicker. Feeling a spider fall from the ceiling and into her nightdress, Miku opened her mouth to scream and the spiders instantly engulfed her, swarming up her neck with frightening speed. Her cries were swiftly muted as the spiders crawled over her lips. She desperately clawed at her face, terror crowding over the pain as she ripped at her own skin. In a second, the world had gone black.

Her flood of relief halted as Miku found herself waking from her nightmare to the sharp ache of a blindingly bright light shining above her. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the fluorescent glow, only to feel her wrist stop short, aching against the tautness of her bindings. Shooting up to the best of her ability, Miku realized with a sharper bite of pain that her wrists and ankles were bound to a hard surface. She struggled, her skin feeling pinched by the cold metal of the table. Miku pulled violently against her ties, the bindings biting tighter and tighter into her wrists as she fought. Exhausted by her fruitless attempts, Miku laid back on the table. Heeding her aching wrists, she continued with much gentler attempts to escape as she squinted and struggled to see past the blinding light that hung above her as she tried to figure out how she got there, or at least where she was. Footsteps echoed throughout the space as she heard someone advance towards her to the side. Filled with the looming sense that she was being watched, Miku lifted her head from the table. In a moment, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Who's there?!" Miku called, dread flooding through her as each step grew louder and louder in her ears. She felt her stomach sink as the footsteps continued, the slow and ominous clicks the only noise throughout the silent room.

The echo of footsteps stopped just as abruptly as they had started. She turned her head begrudgingly to see a man reading from a clipboard. Her head began to swim as her heart beat in her ears, her throat closing as panic welled within her. His face was entirely obscured by a surgical mask, and he wore by a crisply pressed and glaringly white lab coat. Rubber gloves of the same color covered his hands. Only the doctor's eyes remained uncovered, cold and steely as they darted across the clipboard. Around him she began to make out the faint outline of more people, all dressed in the same sterile shade of stark white. Her breathing grew more heavy as the others began to approach. Nurses stood motionlessly behind the doctor, who still silently read from his clipboard. Miku's felt her chest rise up and down rapidly as she began to hyperventilate.

"Hey! Let me go!" Miku began to scream, her stomach turning with foreboding as she pulled at her restraints harder than ever, desperately trying to escape their hold. She stopped screaming and thrashing when the doctor handed his clipboard to a nurse standing behind him, and approached Miku. The girl could hear her heart smacking against her rib cage, pounding in her ears, her hands slick with sweat, suddenly more aware than ever of the binds holding her down as she agonizingly tried to escape whatever would happen next.

She felt her stomach drop with the word, as if she were suddenly falling for the second time that night.

"Scalpel."

"No, please stop!" she cried, her voice catching in her throat as she succumbed to hysterics. "Somebody help me! Help me!"

As she fruitlessly struggled to escape from her binds, Miku couldn't rip her gaze away from a nurse as she passed the tool to the man. Even in the dim light it glinted, as if showing her just how lethal it could be.

Miku let out another string of shrieks as the doctor approached her, ignoring the sharp, shooting pains in her wrists as she fought. She felt the thin rubber of the doctor's glove as he pushed up her shirt slightly, revealing her stomach. The cold of the room hit Miku's exposed flesh and goosebumps formed over her skin. Tears were clouding her vision, but she didn't need to see anything to sense the doctor looming above her or feel the freezing blade of the scalpel as he rested the tool just over the dip of her hipbone.

She continued to beg and plead, her cries growing louder and higher in pitch, the nurses still stone faced and unmoving. A pained, guttural scream echoed through the room as Miku felt the blade carve into the soft flesh of her stomach.

~x~

Just as Len had anticipated, inside the room Miku was whimpering in her sleep. Tears were streaming down her face, her expression contorted in agony. Len had already entered the room, placing his customary sleeping spell so nobody else in the house could interfere. Within her troubled sleep, Len heard her call out his name in panicked desperation. He made his way to her side, his eyebrows crinkling in pity and concern as he placed a steady hand to her tearstained cheek. Miku woke when she felt his touch, staring into his eyes as terror muddled her brain. She breathed in heavy, erratic gasps, still disoriented from her distressed sleep. Miku clawed at the bedsheets and ripped them away before yanking up her nightdress. She observed the flesh of her stomach, and seeing no blood, pressed a spot of her waist gingerly as if she'd feel pain if she touched it too firmly. Almost hyperventilating and unable to speak, she suddenly grabbed at Len's hand and gripped it tightly.

Between choked and halting sobs, Len could hear Miku repeating the words in a defeated, feral mantra. "Didn't work, didn't work, didn't work…"

Len sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms. She burst into tears, sobs shaking her body between loud whimpers. Miku clung to him as her body trembled, burying her face into his chest. He comforted her as she pressed herself against him, rhythmically rubbing her back through her nightdress as her body heaved and rocked in its panicked state. He waited, unmoving, until her erratic breathing slowly turned to hiccups.

Tired out from her crying, Miku slumped against Len. He waited a moment, before kicking off his shoes and climbing fully into her bed. After he tucked them both beneath the sheets, Len propped himself up amongst the girl's pillows as Miku rested against his chest, her eyes still burning with new tears. Once Miku was slightly less choked up, he alternated from rubbing her back to stroking her hair instead.

Miku knew she should have felt more uncomfortable with a boy, and a stranger no less, pressed so closely against her in her bed. But her need for comfort and the boy's gentle touch calmed her enough to ease her into a state of full composure. Entirely exhausted from her panic, she could hardly care less if anyone knew who was laying beside her, and Len soothed her with a gentleness she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Did you have a scary dream again?" the baku murmured, his tone soothing and low as he spoke to the frightened girl. Of course he knew the answer, but with the sound of his voice alone he could feel Miku relax a bit more, her shoulders slumping slightly as she nodded. Len continued to caress her soft locks as she let out another small sob.

"Shh… It's alright, I'm here for you, Miku…" He looked down at the petite figure clinging to his form.

"It didn't work, Len…" she whispered, her voice hoarse and sharply pitched as she spoke. "Why didn't it work...?"

The baku sighed dejectedly as the girl began crying anew. His eyes scanned the area around her bed, falling onto a small, neatly folded scrap of fabric on her bedside table. Despite the circumstances, he felt a smile tug on his lips as he recognized the handkerchief he'd given her, the fabric such a pure shade of white that it glowed softly even in the shadowy room. With Miku already calming down again, Len reached across the bed towards the handkerchief, plucking it up from the surface of the table. Once resituated amongst the pillows, Len gave the girl the soft square of fabric and waited for her to fully calm down. When she had dried her face and regained her composure, she met eyes with the boy staring down at her, worry painted over his features.

He brightened slightly when she looked at him. "You kept it," he noted, nodding to the handkerchief clutched in the girl's hand.

"Of course I did!" she exclaimed. "How couldn't I? I didn't know if I'd ever see you again! ...I-I'm sorry," Miku faltered, averting her gaze from the boy's.

She tried to pull away but he held onto her more firmly. Miku was suddenly much more aware of how close Len was to her and how thin the fabric of her nightdress was. She could feel her skin heat up as she acknowledged the firm grasp of his hand wrapped around her waist. Her breath seemed to leave her as her eyes met with his once more.

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," he whispered, his gaze insistent and dark. "Though it seems the contract we formed wasn't strong enough to scare the nightmares away for good," he concluded with a sigh, his brows creasing in concern.

"Then what can we do?" Miku asked, voice trembling. "Can you take away the nightmares now that they've come back?"

"Of course, young lady," he replied with confidence. "We simply have to form a stronger bond. An extension of our contract seems to be in order."

"Yes, I'd be happy to," Miku hastily replied. She extended her pinky finger towards the boy.

The baku regarded her outstretched hand with a light laugh. "Oh no, no, young lady. This contract will require something a bit.. stronger," he explained, his voice suddenly low and husky.

"What do you mean…?" she asked, pulling her outstretched hand to her chest, her face heating up with the sudden change in his tone.

With Miku already resting in his arms, it wasn't difficult for Len to close the distance between their faces.

The girl stared at Len's lips, already feeling lightheaded as her heart began to flutter. Her pale cheeks turned pink as the baku grinned.

"How about we seal the deal with a kiss?" he replied.

A shiver went down her spine as the baku's breath tickled her lips. With Len this close to her she realized suddenly that his eyes were not entirely black, but rather a deep shade of blue, entirely identical to the color of a midnight sky.

"What do you say, young lady?" he whispered in a low voice.

Miku nodded, her eyes wide, enchantment coursing through her veins like adrenaline as the boy spoke.

The baku's gaze dripped with desire, never looking away from the vibrant color in the girl's widening eyes. "Leave this all to me, Miku. I'll eat up your dreams completely."

He placed a fingertip to her chin and tilted his head with a smirk.

Miku's head spun as his lips met with her slightly parted mouth. The kiss was gentle, a dramatic contrast to the scent of something unknown and alluring that clung to the boy's skin.

Miku's lips were smooth, Len pondered, and she tasted pleasantly sweet. His hand fell from her chin, a finger tracing her back before he languidly dragged his hand downwards. He stopped when he felt the curve of her waist beneath his hand and pulled her closer, the thin fabric of her nightgown not leaving much of her form to the imagination. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, a soft moan escaping from her throat as the baku deepened the kiss.

She pulled back, eyes wide and face burning as she quickly covered her mouth. Len laughed and took her hand, gently pulling it away from her lips.

"You don't have to hide yourself from me," he assured her. "You can tell me anything, Miku."

The girl nodded, and closing the distance between them, her lips met with his. Another moment passed and Len pulled away, meeting Miku's dazed expression. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as he grinned.

"The deal has been sealed, young lady. Rest peacefully and forget all of these horrible dreams..." he trailed off, smiling down at the girl he was still holding in his arms.

Miku averted her eyes, hesitating a moment before speaking shyly. "...Do you have to go?"

Len laughed. "I think you've had enough excitement tonight. But I can assure you, I'll return soon," he promised. The baku released Miku from his grasp, and after a quick kiss to the back of her hand, he stood up and turned to leave.

"Len, wait…!" Miku called toward the retreating figure. When the baku turned around curiously, a sheepish expression formed on her face. "I have one more favor to ask," she ventured, unsure of how the boy would react.

To her relief, he smiled warmly and approached the girl once more. "I'm happy to do anything I can for you, young lady. Now, what is it?"

She took a deep breath. "Well..." She twirled a soft lock of her hair between her fingers as she began, her voice soft and uncertain. "The first time you helped me, the nightmares went away but… every time I would sleep I would only dream of blackness. It's strange but, even when I feel well rested the next morning, the blackness reminds me of my nightmares… I was wondering… If it's not too much trouble… May I dream this time too?"

"I can understand why you would miss your sweet dreams… Leave it to me, I'll give you any dream your heart desires," he concluded, his voice earnest.

Miku felt her face grow hot. "Thank you… so much," she breathed.

"Shall we seal this promise as well?" he offered, a flirtatious grin blooming on his face.

Not sure of what to say, Miku nodded shyly. Before Len left, the pair sealed the deal with a kiss.

 **~xxx~**

 **As always, reviews are appreciated. Hope everyone enjoys~**


	3. Delicacies

The baku sat within his parlor, leafing through a book he'd pulled from his library. A smirk played on his lips as he scanned the pages, evidently enjoying the contents of the work. He reached for the teacup sitting upon the darkwood table in front of him, steam still rising from the drink in a rich shade of purple. He took a sip of the sinister liquid, eyebrows raised as he continued to study the contents of the tome he'd selected. The baku placed the china back on its saucer, his eyes never leaving the text. Alongside his evening tea, a plate of star shaped cookies and a vase of roses the color of snow contributed to the rich aromas enveloping the small room. The sound of an occasional turning page was the only break from the silence that pervaded the space.

The book was no different from any other that loomed behind him in his library, its contents filled with nothing but pages and pages of his contractees' dreams. Dayshad passed since his second contract with Miku had taken place, and he'd visited her as often as he could to ensure that she was still dreaming sweetly. Naturally, he could have just as easily consulted the book he held within his hands to see how their deal was holding up, but the moon was waxing beautifully, and he was never one to pass up a trip into the world of humans, especially if it gave him an opportunity to spend the night with someone as pretty as Miku. He flipped to another page, still intrigued with what the girl had been dreaming the past few nights. The number at the top of the page marked the date of her dream, underneath lay the detailed contents of what had taken place within the girl's slumbering mind. The entries holding his attention were recent, past the point of the painful nightmares she'd endured before their second contract. His eyes danced over the pages, reading of sweet dreams of gentle romances, others naughty fantasies he could hardly imagine such a seemingly innocent girl thinking up. The most common pattern of her dreams, Len noted with a grin, were that they all involved him.

He set the journal down for a moment, lifting one of the sugar cookies from the plate. He looked thoughtfully at the sweet for a moment, observing its appearance before taking a dainty bite between his teeth. He closed his eyes as the "dessert" melted on his tongue, relishing how sweet and savory Miku's dreams could be. Len patted his lips with a napkin, and lifted the book once more. As his eyes scanned the pages as he smiled to himself.

"Dream to your heart's content, young lady."

He glanced back at the diary and continued to read. She was incredibly observant, and how deeply he had affected her showed with every dream. Her subconscious had managed to memorize every detail of their encounters, painting poetic descriptions of his features and mannerisms across the page. The most prevalent details seemed to lay in their first kiss.

He wondered suddenly if Miku had ever bothered to make time for anybody before him.

Surely boys wanted her, he didn't doubt that in the slightest, but from what he'd learned of her daily life, she was much too worried about school to dedicate her time to anyone else. Len's lips curved up absentmindedly as recollections of late nights flitted across his mind, his time with Miku a deliciously sweet secret meant only for the two of them to share. While they were often physically acquainted, Len knew that Miku in no way lacked depth.

Often he found himself lost in stories of an everyday existence he would never truly know, learning details of the girl's life night by night. It seemed by day she was the same as ever, describing herself as the student everyone admired, the child every parent wanted theirs to be.

 _Responsible, amicable, studious, bright._

When she described herself in the words others had labeled her as, they seemed to drip like venom from her tongue, and for a moment she would let the vivacious girl fall away and voice everything she had to hide from the daylight.

He found pleasure in knowing he was the only one to watch a bit of her true colors show and drank up those nights eagerly and as often as he could. Over the years he had found that there was something incredibly captivating in seeing a person open themselves up, to reveal to him what lay behind the personas established by them or _for_ them throughout their days. And just like everyone else, Miku too allowed her deepest desires and dreams bloom before him, her fears and worries laid bare, unafraid to show him what she hid from everyone else. She told him everything; of her longing to live a more carefree life, to be like other girls her age, for her parents and teachers to have fewer expectations and the fears that stemmed from not wanting to disappoint them, the dream school she hoped to attend soon after graduating... And so, night by night, the baku watched as Miku painted her inner life before him, the self he was certain she had told no one else. As she told him these things he observed that a weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders, as if she had harboured secrets and confessions waiting to be spilled to the first person who would try to just _listen_ , ready to divulge her life to anyone who would look far enough to see someone behind what she projected into the world. Despite all of this, she had no shortage of friends. She talked about them from time to time, and she was always so adamant about assuring him that her parents were very loving and supportive aside from their strict expectations. Yet surrounded by people, she still voiced feelings of loneliness and detachment from those who seemed to have no interest in seeing her true self.

Falling out of his recollections, the baku glanced down at her dream journal, a new entry catching his eye. It was a recurrence in her dreams now, the only worry her subconscious and conscious alike could use to plague her. Despite her romanticism, the baku knew Miku was a realistic girl, and in her sleep and daydreams, worries about her relationship with him flitted through her mind. Though she didn't doubt his existence, the nature of their relationship concerned her, and with good reason. Still, he was rather concerned by the length of the entry. What would typically have been a paragraph or two seemed to consume the entire passage. His eyes darted across the page, reading of concerns Miku had about her relationship with him, wondering how what they had could ever last, fearing the day when they may have to inevitably part ways, wondering about what exactly he was and what he was capable of achieving. Though she was justifiably worried, Len couldn't stop himself from commending Miku for her realistic approach to the situation.

Turning the page, Len's eyes fell upon a completely blank entry. Noting the date, the baku realized that Miku hadn't fallen asleep yet. He closed the dream diary, standing to return the book to its rightful place. Behind him a tall bookshelf accented with gold gilding stood, towering from the ceiling to the floor. Within the expanse of shelves an array of bound books were stacked together, blanketed in a heavy layer of dust. Though the disarray of the bookshelf clashed with the sleek neatness of the rest of the baku's room, Len seemed to pay it no mind as he slid Miku's dream diary into the nearest space on the shelf.

He plucked his coat from off his desk and turned to leave, but paused for a moment when his eye caught the arrangement of flowers resting upon his tea table. The roses were in bloom, the petals so full they seemed to burst off their stems. He pulled one from the vase, inhaling the delicate aroma before he turned away from the table. In a moment he had disappeared from the room in a cloud of purple and gold smoke.

~x~

As he approached the familiar house, he could make out Miku resting her arms against her bedroom window, a pale silhouette in a world of shadows. As he got closer, he could see her eyes shine in wonder as she stared up into the starry night sky.

"Is there something you wish for young lady?"

The girl jumped at the sound, turning to face the voice's source.

"Len!" she exclaimed excitedly with a laugh. "How are you?"

"Much better now that I'm with you," he replied playfully. "For you," he explained, extending the white rose towards the girl.

"Oh, that's very kind of you!" Miku responded appreciatively. She lifted the bloom to her nose and after a moment sighed in contentment.

"Is it to your liking, then?" the boy asked with a pleased smile.

"It smells wonderful, Len!" Miku beamed at the boy, her eyes shining brightly despite the low light. "Could you wait here a minute? I'd like to get this in some water."

"Of course."

"Be right back!" she called over her shoulder as she left the room, being sure to firmly close the door behind her.

Len's eyes lingered over the closed door for a second before releasing an audible sigh of annoyance as he tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, his clothes feeling unusually tight. By the time Miku returned with a vase, Len had removed his jacket and hat and was in the middle of rolling up his second sleeve, his bow tie undone and hanging precariously around his neck. He paused to watch Miku set the vase on her desk, and smirked lightheartedly as she covered her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"What's so funny?" Len asked as he straightened and approached the girl, his look playful and challenging.

"I'm not used to seeing you dressed down," she explained, her stomach suddenly filling with butterflies.

Miku glanced away, her heart beginning to race as the baku closed the distance between them. She felt her skin heat up as her gaze locked with Len's, her legs pressing against her desk as the baku slid an arm around her waist. His touch alone sent a small shiver shooting through her body, leaving her waiting in anticipation for what would happen next. Hidden in the quiet of her room, time seemed to stop around them as he inched closer. His arms slid over the girl's back, firmly holding himself closer to her, he pressed his face to Miku's neck and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Miku stammered, freezing with the sudden touch. A new shiver shot through her as the boy's breath tickled her neck.

She felt him shrug as he nuzzled against her skin. "I missed you," he explained simply.

As quickly as he had advanced upon her, Len was already stepping back, the spell now broken left Miku dizzy as an all too innocent smile spread over his face.

"What's gotten into you?" Miku muttered as she pushed herself off the table.

"I didn't want anything getting out of hand. I see you like your gift," Len nodded towards the desk and Miku turned, eyes falling onto the rose that was now neatly placed into the vase.

"So," she exhaled with feigned composure as she turned back to face the boy. "What brings you here tonight?"

"As you know, I simply wished to see you," Len replied warmly. "Though I am rather confused. Why aren't you sleeping…?"

Miku laughed lightly. "I suppose I'm not tired yet. Will you sit with me for a moment?" she asked hopefully.

Len smiled and bent his head in silent agreement.

Miku excitedly retrieved the chair that was tucked against her desk.

"Thank you," Len replied graciously, and took the chair from her. He sat it across from the ottoman Miku had placed by the window earlier that evening. As he settled into his seat he took a moment to admire the stars, then turned his attention to the girl.

Miku sat across from him in her ottoman and leaned closer to the boy. In the darkness her eyes seemed to change to a shade of deep jade. "You mentioned something about a wish earlier. What did you mean?" she asked curiously.

"You had been looking at the stars," Len responded. "I only assumed… Isn't it customary to wish upon them?"

Miku regarded the boy with a smile. "Now that you mention it, I suppose it is. But I think all of my wishes have already come true," she admitted quietly.

"Is that so?" the baku responded. "And how is that?"

Miku looked down for a moment, eyes flitting back up to catch Len's gaze. "For a long time I've wished for someone like you."

"Oh?" the boy asked curiously, leaning forward with interest.

The girl squirmed under his gaze, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. "I've been wanting to thank you for a long time now. The nightmares were eating me alive. I don't think my life would have ever been the same again if it wasn't for you, Len… So, thank you very much," she concluded, her adamant gaze piercing deeply into the boy.

Len was taken aback by the girl's confession, but he quickly regained his composure with a small chuckle. "I'm honored, and incredibly lucky to have caught the attention of such a wonderful girl," he responded lightly.

Miku smiled at the boy, her eyes wandering over his features, eventually falling onto his pointed ears. "You really aren't human…" Miku whispered quietly. "Even after everything that's happened, it's still hard for me to believe it."

"I understand," Len replied. "It must be difficult for someone to accept that their world is no longer quite what they've always perceived it to be."

"Yes, it is," Miku admitted. "But more than anything, now I'm curious."

"Curious?" Len asked, raising his eyebrow in question.

"About bakus. Would you mind telling me about them?" the girl asked with a hopeful look.

"There isn't much to tell," he admitted simply. "We travel your world assisting humans who need to be rid of their nightmares through contracts. Our sole purpose is to eat dreams."

Miku waited for Len to continue, but soon realized he had no more to say.

"That's it? There has to be more than that…"

"I'm afraid not. Of course there is more to our world. Much like yours has groups of humans who specialize in certain fields, bakus coexist with other types of creatures who keep our society running smoothly. But there is very little need for more than a few handfuls of such specialized creatures, so bakus are a rather scarce species, and incredibly busy because of it. So really a baku's existence isn't a very interesting one. That is, until we meet someone like you," Len added playfully. "And frankly, young lady," the creature continued as he took Miku's hand and stood, " _You_ are what I would much rather be focusing on right now."

He helped the girl from her seat and led her across the room. The baku reclined slightly on the still-made bed, an impish grin on his lips.

Obviously hesitant to join the baku, Len sat up before gently pulling the girl against him until she was comfortably seated on his lap. She averted her gaze, her face burning scarlet as the boy began to languidly trail his eyes down her form.

"Why won't you look at me?" the baku cooed, leaning closer to the flustered girl's face. "You know you don't have to hide from me." He wrapped his arms around the girl's waist, his lips gracing the lobe of her ear as he spoke. "What is it you desire, Miku?" he whispered, his voice low and filled with temptation, dripping like honey with secrets and promise.

She turned to face the boy, beautiful turquoise eyes already needy and clouded with desire. She slipped her hands over his chest and rested them on his shoulders. Taking hold of his loosened necktie, she pulled the boy inches from her face.

"Kiss me," she breathed, a hint of her longing slipping into her tone with the request, and Len was happy to oblige.

Their lips met, and he quickly parted them, feeling her gasp as he traced her lips with his tongue. There was no hesitation this time, no fumbling or nervousness as Miku felt herself press against him, their teeth clicking together as she eagerly deepened the kiss.

~x~

When they finally broke away, Miku's face was flushed, her eyelids drooping as she unwillingly dozed.

"Tired...?" Len mused, caressing her face as he tucked locks of hair behind her ear. He laughed gently as Miku responded with a slow nod.

The baku unclasped Miku's hands from around his neck and helped ease her under the covers.

"Well then, young lady, I suppose I should take my leave-"

"Wait!" Miku interrupted hastily. She sat up, forcing some alertness back into her sluggish body.

"What is it?" Len questioned, curiously raising an eyebrow as he awaited Miku's reasoning behind the sudden outburst.

"I don't want you to go," Miku explained, her voice barely above a whisper as she twisted a bedsheet between her fingers. "...Will you spend the night with me?"

Len's breath caught in his throat as he felt his heartbeat raise slightly at Miku's request.

"That wouldn't be appropriate," the baku blithely replied, though he tried to his best to feign composure as he spoke, his throat still tightened and his heart beat a bit faster than usual.

Miku sat up, leaning towards the boy with a coquettish grin. "Is anything about a young man sneaking into my room appropriate?" she quipped, though her tone was lighthearted and friendly.

Len felt his body relax with the joke. He met eyes with Miku, a mischievous grin playing on his lips as he leaned in conspiratorially towards the girl.

"Under the circumstances," he replied, "I think it was quite excusable. And as for tonight, I suppose spending a few more hours with you couldn't hurt."

Miku's eyes lit up with Len's assent, and in a few moments he was underneath the sheets with her. It wasn't long before Len noticed Miku was dozing off, and he wasn't surprised. Everything about Miku's bed was soft and clean and inviting. If bakus required as much sleep as humans, he knew he would have found himself dozing off by now as well. He absentmindedly twirled one of Miku's locks around his finger and glanced at the girl laying beside him. Len tensed as Miku let out a small breath and moved closer, and found himself holding his breath as she settled against him. He pondered his behavior, wondering what was causing him to react so strangely. Len realized with a sudden burst of surprise that it was as if he was afraid to move too suddenly in fear that she may disappear, as if he himself were lost in a dream of his own. Thoughts of this strange sensation quickly ebbed with the realization that this was undoubtedly reality. The subtle heat radiating off of her skin, comforting and soft against his own, and the rhythmic, quiet sounds of her breathing proved that he was awake. His unoccupied hand hovered over her as he considered tracing the outlines of her back or caressing her cheek, but hesitated, feeling his breath catch again. Though her eyes were closed, he knew she was still partially awake. He pulled away and cleared his throat.

"What are you thinking about?" Len wondered aloud, unsure of why the girl still hadn't fallen asleep. He glanced at the alarm clock that rested on her nightstand, and noted that it was close to three a.m.

Miku opened her eyes, and looked at Len hesitantly, as if she were unsure if she wanted to tell him or not. Len wasn't about to press the topic, but to his surprise, Miku spoke.

"What's going to happen to us?" she asked quietly, concern etched in her voice.

Len paused, allowing the lock to slip off of his finger. He watched the hair fall and make a smooth ringlet on the mattress. He glanced back up at Miku, and saw her expression was clouded with worry.

"Miku, it's alright…" he began, pulling the girl into his arms. "You must understand how much I treasure your company. It's rare for someone like myself to share such a deep bond with a human, and I am more thankful for that than words can describe."

"Are you going to have to leave one day?" Miku asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Of course bakus have to move on and assist others with their nightmares. It's our job to help humans dream peacefully, without it our species would cease to have meaning."

Disappointment and pain flitted through Miku as she resisted the sudden urge to cry. The idea that Len would one day leave her and she would once more be alone was almost unbearable.

 _Of course he couldn't be with you,_ she thought, scolding herself silently. _He's a_ baku _for goodness sake! How would that even work? As if someone like him could love you._ Tears pricked at Miku's eyes and threatened to escape as she fought against the urge to cry. _At least you can still have him in your dreams,_ Miku thought halfheartedly in some sort of attempt to reason with herself. Of course she could dream of him, but dreams could never compare to the real thing, and she scolded herself anew for letting herself be so foolish.

"However," Len continued on. "That wouldn't stop a baku from visiting a human once their contract was up, if both parties so desired."

Miku bolted up, relief flooding through her as she stared at Len.

"Really?" Miku asked, excitement and hope flooding over her.

The baku nodded with a smile, but paused as he stared at the girl.

"Miku, are you crying…?!" Len asked, eyes wide as he stared at Miku.

In the darkness it was more difficult to make out, but Len could see a faint stream of tears falling down her face.

"If I said something that upset you, I apologize," Len responded tentatively.

"Nothing's wrong," Miku laughed as tears continued to course down her face. "I'm just happy!"

Before Len could respond, Miku's lips were against his. She broke the kiss for a moment and Len smirked as the girl moved towards him. Wrapping his arms around her thin frame, he pulled Miku closer until she was pressed against him. Tonight's nightgown as usual, the baku mused as he smiled into Miku's kiss, was not leaving much to the imagination, and he felt his hands moving down Miku's back and to her sides as he gripped against her curves through the thin fabric. The girl gasped lightly as Len traced his tongue over her lips, relishing the sweetness of her taste. She leaned further against the baku, their tongues fervently exploring each other's mouths as their kiss deepened. Miku broke away for a moment, panting as Len continued to hold her close. His hands caressed her neck before he eased down the ruffled lace sleeve of her nightgown, the skin of her shoulder exposed to the light of the half full moon.

~x~

What would have once been lonely nights now passed quickly with Miku and Len sharing each other's company. At first Len voiced his guilt about keeping Miku up so late at night, but she insisted that she didn't mind, and that she would take spending time with him over a full night's sleep without hesitation. Still, Len tried to be courteous about his visits, often consulting the girl's dream diary before going to visit her in case she'd already fallen asleep. On nights when she already had, he'd spend time reading or lounging about his home. Though he valued his privacy and downtime, even he could admit that nights with her were always much less tedious than staying cooped up indoors. Still, tonight he found himself reclining in a soft chair in his parlour, dragging his fingers over the cover of Miku's dream diary. He couldn't imagine that she was still awake at this hour, but opened the book just in case. Flipping to the current date, Len was surprised to see that she had been dreaming for quite some time, in that very moment even, judging by the words embedding themselves on the page. He watched as each letter was placed, seemingly by an unseen hand, the words neatly printed along blank lines, perfectly recording the progress of the dream as it occurred. Resigned to the fact that he would not be seeing her tonight, Len settled into his chair and began to read.

~x~

Though there was no source of light to be seen, Miku could see around her perfectly. From every side appeared to be a starless black sky, stretching endlessly upon the horizon. If it weren't for the masses of crimson roses engulfing the ground as far as the eye could see, the pungent scent that they exuded would almost smell too strong to be real. Each rose seemed to glisten sharply despite the odd mixture of darkness and ample light, and upon further inspection, Miku noted that the blooms were covered in dew splattered like fallen teardrops on each perfectly formed petal. Miku slowly explored the space, too enamoured with the strange environment to be frightened, and with no visible threats in sight, she decided to enjoy the strange dream while it lasted. She wandered aimlessly, and with no landmarks to keep herself oriented, Miku began to question if she was going anywhere at all. Unsure if she had been wandering for minutes or hours, Miku crouched down amongst the flowers and leaned her head against her knees with a sigh. It was strange to her that she could feel tired in a dream, and decided it would be best to wait it out before something odd could happen. The girl squeezed her eyes shut insistently, but she instinctively shot up as she heard a faint echo of a melody in the distance. At first out of curiosity she followed the sound, but she began feeling more and more hesitant as the tune got louder. Miku could now tell that the sound was indeed someone singing, and the hunched, shadowy silhouette in the distance only confirmed her suspicions. As Miku eased upon the stranger, she made out the petite figure of a girl, crouched over a cluster of roses. Up close the girl's voice sounded hollow and absent, reminding Miku of a ghost. Skin deathly pale and wearing a long white night dress and gloves, the stranger's appearance only enhanced the accuracy of the comparison. Miku watched silently as the girl continued to hum, gently pulling the petals from a single bloom cradled in her hand. As she dropped each of the petals, they seemed to fall for only a moment before breaking into small fragments and ascending into the sky. Miku watched in wonder as the girl continued plucking petals off the bloom. Continuing to observe the stranger, she unconsciously shifted her weight. The light sound of roses readjusting around Miku's feet caused the girl to jolt and turn suddenly with a gasp. Miku instinctively stepped back as she met eyes with the strange girl. Her eyes were wide and deep green, the color dramatically accentuated by impossibly dark bags that looked painfully reminiscent of bruises. Her cheeks seemed hollow and were slightly sunken, leaving her face in shadows. Despite her disturbingly sickly appearance, the stranger smiled, her lips colorless and chapped.

"What are you doing here?" the stranger asked shakily.

"I'm sorry," Miku replied in haste and took another step back. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'll be going now…"

"Wait!" the girl exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

Miku flinched as the girl reached for her, and the stranger quickly recoiled in response.

"Can you stay for a moment?" she asked, her tone laced with friendliness and desperation. "I'm sure I don't look very good…" she trailed off with a nervous laugh, "but I promise I won't hurt you. It's just been so long since I've seen anyone. You're the first person I've _ever_ encountered here, actually… So… if you could spend some time with me… I'd be very grateful."

Miku warily watched the girl for a moment. She did indeed look frightful, but aside from her appearance, she seemed gentle and friendly. Still, she knew all too well that her dreams could alter quickly and violently if given the chance, though that hadn't happened for quite some time thanks to Len...

 _Either way,_ Miku reasoned, _it's not like she can_ really _hurt me._ _It's just a dream._

With her mind made up, she decided she'd take the chance.

"Okay, I'll spend some time with you," Miku confirmed with a nod and a friendly smile.

"Really? I'm very thankful!" the stranger exclaimed.

Miku looked down at the flower still clutched in her hand. Held against the whiteness of her clothing and skin, the rose almost looked like a spot of blood. Miku pointed at the bloom. "I noticed you were plucking the petals off of that," she began. "Why?"

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, seeming to remember the rose in her hand. "I could just explain, but I think I'd much rather show you!"

She returned to her place on the ground and Miku sat next to her, eying the girl as she began plucking off petals one by one once again. Up close the transformation was even more miraculous. Miku watched in awe as the stranger picked off and dropped each petal. It would fall a few inches before hovering in the air for a second. The petal seemed to fracture and crack apart before ascending into the sky, making the air around it sparkle as it disappeared into the empty darkness that loomed above them.

"It's beautiful…!" Miku breathed.

The stranger giggled. "That's not even the best part," she whispered as she continued to pull apart the rose petal by petal.

When only one more remained on the stem, the girl turned to Miku excitedly.

"Are you ready to see what happens next?"

Miku nodded quickly, eager to see what could possibly happen once the final petal had been released.

The stranger removed the last petal and the pair watched it slowly float into the air. As it disappeared the sky immediately seemed to alter, turning from black to a luminous blue. Just as the color seemed to set, Miku gasped as she saw an image of a person. Across the sky a small, slender figure glided about, as if being projected onto a screen. By the way she was dressed and her graceful, perfectly balanced movements, Miku assumed she was performing in a ballet. Though she made the dance look effortless, her eyes remained closed and her brows were ever so slightly furrowed as she moved through the air. The two girls sat in silence, enamoured as they watched the ethereal creature dance about the sky. Miku wasn't sure if it was her imagination or if she could really hear classical music playing lightly around her.

The dance continued for some time, until all at once the music seemed to stop in perfect beat with the girl, who stood poised in a perfect bow, hardly allowing herself to breathe so she could stay perfectly still despite her exhaustion. A few moments of utter stillness passed before the girl straightened. Her face relaxing, she opened her eyes and beamed as if looking into an audience, her eyes matching the color of the sky almost perfectly. Next to Miku, the stranger began to applaud, and with a grin Miku followed suit as they watched the image of the smiling girl fade into blackness once more.

"It was like a movie," Miku mused, turning to the stranger with a look of wonder.

"Isn't it amazing?" she responded. "I'm glad you got to see such a beautiful one! Every rose shows something different."

"What else do they show?" Miku asked curiously, leaning back on her arms amidst the roses.

"All sorts of things," the stranger mused. "Sometimes I watch people fall in love, get married, play sports, create art, perform music, win awards, travel. Even just mundane things like spend time with friends. It's fun since there's nothing else to do, and I get to see so many new places and people."

"And you never run out?"

The girl shook her head. "Never. New roses seem to grow constantly."

"That's amazing!"

"I'm certainly never bored. Though it can get sad sometimes…"

Miku cocked her head slightly to one side. "Why is that?"

"I'm always watching people from a distance," the girl began, toying with a rose as she spoke. "I never get to interact with who I see. You're the first person I've ever seen down here, besides myself, of course."

"So are you dreaming, too?" Miku questioned earnestly, curious to see if she was sharing a dream with another person.

"That would make sense," the girl ventured hesitantly. "Though I can't recall exactly when I arrived here, or the last time I slept. I simply opened my eyes one day, and here I was."

"I… See…" Miku hesitated, unsure of how to go on. "How did you find out that the roses did that?"

The girl shrugged with a laugh. "I got bored one day, and had nothing else to do. Who knew something so destructive would pay off?"

The two laughed, but Miku's voice fell short. She paused a moment, unsure of how exactly to word her thoughts. "Really, you must be sleeping, though. How else could you be in a place like this?"

"I'm not sure, honestly..." the girl admitted. "I've tried to reason it out myself. But I only know that I'm stuck here, never tired or able to sleep. Perhaps that's why I can't leave?"

The two sat in silence, as if pondering what had been said.

Miku broke the silence first. "So do the roses show you memories?"

The stranger stared up at the sky, one side of her mouth turning up into a grin. "Or past lives…?"

"You don't think…" Miku trailed off.

"That I'm dead?" the stranger finished. "I don't think I am… though I would like to get some answers soon."

Miku laughed lightly. "Well, until you can wake up, these roses can be your dreams instead."

The girl turned to Miku and smiled. "I'm fine with that!" she confirmed. A grin spread across her face as she eagerly picked up a second rose. "Want to watch another?"

"Sure!" Miku laughed.

The girl couldn't say how long the two sat, laughing, talking, and watching projections dance across the sky.

"Why don't you try this time?" the stranger suggested.

"Okay," Miku smiled. She held out her hand to take the rose the girl offered her.

She picked a single petal from the bloom and gently released it into the air.

"You did it!" the girl exclaimed. "You're amazing-" she paused suddenly, her eyes widening in horror.

Miku's smile immediately fell as she followed the stranger's eyes down. She dropped the rose in shock, staring at where her hands would normally be. Aside from a quickly disappearing outline, they had somehow become entirely translucent.

"What's happening to me?!" she screamed as she watched in horror as the strange translucence began engulfing her arms at a rapid pace.

"Oh no… Oh no…" the stranger gasped, hands hovering over Miku uncertainly as her body was consumed quicker and quicker by the moment.

"Please! Don't go yet!" she begged. "What's happening to you?!"

"I think I'm waking up…!" Miku called, arching her neck upwards as if she were treading water, uncertainty etched in her tone as she continued to be consumed by the strange phenomenon.

"I- I didn't catch your name…!" the stranger called. "Please tell me!"

"It's Miku…!" the girl gasped, barely any of her body left to see.

"Miku… thank you…" the girl cried out as tears fell down her face. "My name is-"

~x~

Back in the parlour, Len stared down at the page, unmoving, his teeth bared. After a few moments of staring down at the page he was certain Miku had woken up. He tried to relax his muscles with a shuddering exhale, with little success. He hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped breathing as his lungs now burned from the strain. He relaxed his hands, ignoring the dream diary as it fell to the floor with a thud. The baku reached out to massage his aching jaw, and frowned as he looked down at his hand. He also begrudgingly realized that he'd been gripping the dream diary so tightly that the seams in his gloves had begun to pop. Easing the gloves off of his sore fingers revealed that his knuckles were still regaining their color from his tight hold on the book. Len rolled his shoulders and neck before producing a pocket watch out of thin air. He flipped it open and glanced down. Lining the normal numbered face of the clock were the moon phases, meticulously placed to reveal the exact phase of the moon in any given moment. He looked at a fourth ornately carved hand, extended past the numbers that marked the hour, minute, and second on the watch. His eyes slowly traced the hand up to where it pointed. By the looks of it, the full moon was fast approaching. With a heavy sigh, the dream eater snapped the pocket watch shut.

" _So much work, so little time."_

 **~xxx~**

 **As always, reviews are appreciated. Hope everyone enjoys~**


	4. Monochrome World

Making his way to Miku's house, Len could almost _feel_ the light of the full moon upon him, weighing down on his shoulders with a sense of impending finality. He felt even more unlike himself than usual tonight, though full moons always put him in a bad mood. Still, as he moved through the now all too familiar streets of Miku's neighborhood, he felt himself growing increasingly more on edge as each minute passed. The urge to manifest directly into her home was tempting to him. By now it would be no different from taking shape on the edge of her neighborhood-he'd done it countless times-but he resisted the urge as a new pang of nervousness shot through him. He grimaced, a wave of indecision consuming his mind as he continued his steady pace. By now Len knew he should be used to these nights, or at least pretend to be, but even after so long, their disappointing outcomes weighed down on him, as predictable as the phases of the moon, and never ceased to sting.

 _You have a job_ , he reminded himself, sternly forcing his brain back to attention.

He paused in the darkness, exhaled slowly, and tried to relax his now aching jaw, which he had been unconsciously clenching. With a sense of resolution, he straightened his posture and advanced, knowing he couldn't allow anyone to distract him from his task. Despite it all, Miku's presence wrapped him in a longing nostalgia he would've been content to never address again. The streets were illuminated identically to the first night when he made his introduction to Miku, thanks to the ever vigilant streetlamps. Though light they provided was hardly necessary tonight with the moon casting its beams in that same familiar glow, covering the world in a haze that never ceased to wear down on his nerves and make him feel even more on edge. The brilliance of these moons, reminding him of what he'd so effortlessly come to be, relentlessly seeking him out, bathed him in their light and exposed his true form in their lustre.

He found himself staring up at the streetlamps as he walked, unsure of when he started but suddenly wishing for nothing more than to see each of those never changing lamps wink out around him, for the natural darkness of the night to embrace him and make him disappear into nothing more than another shadow in a world of monochrome. He knew he could do it with a flick of his wrist. In a moment the unnatural light bearing down on him like another accusation could be gone and he would be hidden in the precious, peaceful stillness of night. But that wouldn't change where he was, or what he was going to do, nor would it dim the light of the glowing full moon above him.

Finally reaching the home, Len saw Miku gazing out her window at the stars, the habit she'd taken up as she would wait for him. Even though he hadn't shown up to visit for a short while, he was sure she'd done it every night, patiently waiting for his return. He cracked a small smile at the thought. Len approached her window and lightly rapped on the glass, watching Miku's face light up at the sound. When their eyes met Len shot her a pleasant smile and Miku hastily reached for the window. Before she could touch the glass Len had appeared before her in the room.

"Good evening, young lady," the baku said as he greeted the girl. Despite his restlessness, he at least attempted to feign his typical ease once he was in her presence.

Miku seemed surprised by the sudden entrance, but recovered quickly. "Good evening, Len!" she started brightly.

He tensed slightly as Miku embraced him. When she pulled away she looked uncertain, giving the baku a quizzical look as she wondered if anything was wrong. Their eyes met and her heart fluttered as Len smiled down at her, watching her absently as his lips upturned in a devilish smirk. She'd seen that look before, as if he had a delicious secret he was waiting to share, and she was the only person he desired to indulge. Miku felt herself burn with the closeness of Len's presence, her smile returning as she watched the boy, wondering if she'd imagined his strange reaction.

"Would you like to watch the sky with me?" she offered brightly, turning to her desk to fetch her chair. "The full moon makes everything so bright. It's so pretty tonight!"

The baku felt an abrupt, almost piteous laugh escape his throat. "Thank you, young lady, but I must decline. Tonight I think our meeting will be much shorter than usual."

He noticed the sudden change in his tone, and evidently she did too. He watched Miku stiffen, her posture suddenly uncomfortably rigid, as if a shiver was crawling up her spine.

"You see," he continued, his voice honeyed as he slipped behind the girl. He dragged his hand over her shoulder, slowly inching his fingers closer to her neck. He watched, almost entranced as goosebumps formed on her skin. "I've simply come to collect my fee."

Miku felt a chill shoot down her spine as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She turned around slowly, taking a few steps back as she watched the boy, suddenly feeling wary and on edge.

Len watched Miku hungrily, his grin widening, revealing his pointed eyeteeth. In the glint of moonlight they seemed much sharper than the girl remembered. With some hesitation, she spoke. "A fee?" Miku ventured. She felt her throat tighten, unsure if she wanted an explanation for Len's odd behavior. "What do you mean?"

A pang of nervousness shot through her body unbidden as she waited for his answer. She couldn't understand why she felt the way she did, but the ever growing dread Miku felt in her stomach made her feel jumpy and uncertain as she watched the boy. _It's just Len_ , she reminded herself, _you don't have to be afraid._ Yet no amount of encouraging thoughts was calming her racing heart. She felt her mouth go dry as Len watched her.

In reply to her question, the baku gestured to the glowing yellow moon, it's light pouring into the space.

"You see, when the full moon rises my job is complete. And I'm here to collect my payment," he explained.

Though he still smiled at Miku, for the first time his expression seemed dark and predatory as he gazed down at her. She felt another shiver run up her spine as she looked at Len. She'd never felt unsafe around him before, but tonight something about him was different, almost as if it wasn't him at all.

"Payment? I don't know what you need, but I'll be happy to give it..." Miku assured him insistently.

"Ah, Miku. Ever the naive little damsel, aren't you?" the baku growled, his gaze feral and bright. "You _do_ know what the price is, of course?"

"Excuse me...?" Miku demanded, though her voice faltered and her face couldn't mask the pain and bewilderment she felt. "I don't think I know what you mean."

"No… I don't think you do."

In a moment he had grabbed onto the girl's wrist, yanking her arm towards him until their faces were inches apart. The sudden action made Miku's breath catch in her throat, her head spinning in confusion as she tried to register what Len had done. As Miku gasped she caught the familiar scent of the boy, but what was once so alluring now seemed dangerous, like she was breathing poison. Miku struggled to break free of the baku's grasp, the gentle, sweet boy she'd come to know all but gone now, as if replaced by some sort of terrible monster.

He gripped her wrist tighter as she struggled to escape, dragging a whimper from her throat.

"L-Len! What are you doing? Please stop! You're hurting me!" Miku called as she fought to pull her wrist away.

The baku smirked, his teeth glinting like knives in the light. "Are you afraid of me, my dear? Well, that's quite alright," he purred, gritting his teeth as he dug his gloved hands deeper into the flesh of her arm. "It's only natural for a creature of prey. But I assure you, if you stop struggling and allow me to take what I need, this will all be over shortly."

The throbbing pain in her arm mixed with fear and desperation as Miku began to sob, wincing between the pressure on her wrist and the sudden formation of tears burning her eyes.

"Len, please," the girl begged through hysteric gasps, "tell me what's wrong. What is this about?! I don't understand why you're acting this way, I thought you were supposed to watch over me. Y-you said you'd always protect me! From the nightmares- the demons-"

"You stupid child," the baku purred, hatred dripping off every word like poison. "There were never any monsters giving you your silly little nightmares to begin with."

Miku recoiled away as much as she could with him still latching so tightly to her arm. Feeling as if she'd just been slapped, she managed to regain enough of her composure to speak. "What are you talking about?!" she demanded. "Of course something was giving me my nightmares! They were _horrifying!_ I've never experienced anything like them…!" her words died on her tongue and she felt her skin go cold as she watched Len's expression turn from one of malice to mocking pity.

"I suppose I should rephrase. Yes, there was something giving you nightmares, Miku. But not quite in the way you imagined."

He paused, watching coldly as she looked away from him. Miku stared into Len's face, searching for an explanation as she tried to reason with what he was saying to her. After a second, she spoke, suddenly filled with a new sense of anxiousness and dread.

"What was causing the dreams, then?"

"There are only so many humans who suffer with the affliction of nightmares within my reach," he continued to explain, as if it should have been obvious to her all along. "So in a pinch, I must make the victims myself. Fabricating worlds from a human's worst fears, their deepest dreads. Clever, isn't it?"

"There's no way..." Miku whispered, her voice trembling as her breaths became ragged, her throat tightening, making it hard for her to focus and breathe. "You weren't… lying to me… right…?"

Len seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Not about everything, I suppose. A baku's job truly is to relieve victims of their nightmares, after all. A terribly _boring_ life, releasing you humans from your petty little worries. I think my game is much more interesting." He could see the betrayal in her eyes, the disbelief that he could ever turn on her, but he continued on, unfazed. "So you see, this wasn't some silly little fight against good and evil. The only demon you ever had to worry about was _me_." He considered his words for an instant. "Though if it gives you any consolement, young lady, I must say… even if I induced them myself, your nightmares still taste _heavenly."_

For a moment Miku stared dumbly at the boy, her mind racing, her body going numb. She didn't believe he'd lied to her, didn't want to even consider it, but her reasoning crumbled as she looked at the boy she thought she once knew and trusted. He was gone now, and, she realized bitterly, he never existed at all. He was just as real as a dream, a figment of something that was never real to begin with.

Miku didn't realize she was crying until she felt the warmth of the tears streaming down her face. "You lied to me," she stated bleakly, her voice cracking, as if it were physically painful to vocalize the truth.

"I'm afraid so. But don't look so hurt, Miku. I assure you, all that color in your eyes is being given up for a more than worthy cause." He traced his lips with his tongue. "Now then, young lady… Shall we?"

Pain and anger twisted inside of Miku, but fear overrode any need to figure out what Len had up his sleeve. She twisted her arm out of his grasp and bolted for the bedroom door. Just as she reached for the knob, Len was before her, slamming his hand against the door as she struggled to open it against his weight.

"You're not getting out of this, Miku," Len warned, mild annoyance darkening into something much more sinister as the girl continued to pull at the door. "We made a deal."

Knowing it was futile to struggle against Len, as a last resort Miku began to scream for her parents.

The baku rolled his eyes, staring down at Miku with thinly masked disdain.

"Save your breath, young lady. Surely you didn't think that after all these nights I'd come in here without any precautionary measures? After all the noise we've made? Surely you've realized... I've cast a sleeping spell over your home, so your family doesn't make any unwanted entrances. It's not like anyone would believe you either way. A strange creature in your room promising to take away your nightmares? Everyone would think you'd gone mad from sleepless nights." He watched the girl crumble to her knees in resignation, half expecting her to have put up more of a fight.

Clutching her face in her hands, Miku wept bitterly, her body heaving with every sob as she registered the shock of Len's betrayal. She pulled her hands from her face as she felt her tears pooling through her fingers like blood from a fresh wound. A shriek sliced through the air as Miku gazed down at her hands in horrified disbelief. Pale white flesh was covered in tears dyed with vivid color. She stared dazedly as the colorful drops still dripped onto her hands like a grotesque, pigmented rain. Her hands began to tremble, the color still falling from her eyes as she spoke.

"Len, what is this?!" she all but screamed, her voice sounding hollow and distant to her own ears.

She hardly registered that Len had passed by until he had crouched down beside her. She flinched away from him, but the flow of color ebbing even quicker from her eyes took over any thoughts of escape. The girl looked up to see that in Len's hand was the rose he had given to her as a present only a few nights before. The flower was still in full bloom, and through her panic Miku distantly recalled wondering how it hadn't started to wilt over the past few days.

"The colors of your aspirations, your hopes, your loves... Everything that weaves a human's sweetest dreams together," Len responded, nodding his head in the direction of Miku's stained hands. Len admired the flawless bloom in the moonlight with a look of deep reverence before turning his gaze back to Miku, once more regarding the sobbing girl.

"And just look at yours! Such a deliciously vivid shade of... teal, is it? What a beautiful color your dreams are, Miku..."

He extended the rose towards the girl's face, as if offering it to her. She could feel the softness of the petals as Len caressed her cheek with the flower. Miku stayed utterly still as Len dragged the bloom below her eye, all energy and desire to lash out at him moments before entirely drained. As her tears dripped onto the petals, she watched helplessly as the once white flower began to alter, her tears dying the rose first teal before changing into a vibrant shade of crimson.

Pulling the rose away, Len stood, staring down at the girl. "Everything in those pretty eyes… All that color will be mine eternally. Young lady, I give you my sincerest gratitude. I can only hope you enjoy this monochrome paradise."

Despite her protests and desperate pleas, Len turned his back to the girl. He approached the rays of moonlight that still flooded the dark room, disappearing into the faint beams of light like an apparition. In a moment it was as if the baku had never existed, all traces of his presence seemingly snuffed out in an instant, like a weak flame. Feeling impossibly fatigued and hollow, Miku crumpled to the floor and succumbed to a stifling, abyssal slumber.

 **~xxx~**

 **As always, reviews are appreciated. Hope everyone enjoys~**


	5. Once Upon a Time (Part 1)

**Hey everyone! Long time no see. To anyone still reading this fic, THANK YOU! I know it's been forever since I updated, but hopefully despite school starting again I can begin uploading things more frequently. I'm not at that point yet, but in a couple of chapters I might have to go on a temporary hiatus as I try to work out plot for this story. In the meantime, please check out a poll I put up to let me know which fanfiction you'd like to see from me next! I have a better plan for writing and updating stories on a regular basis now, so hopefully school won't get in the way of that too much. ALSO,** _ **I would strongly suggest rereading this fic from chapter one, as a lot has been added and some plot points have been changed and fleshed out for a (hopefully) more immersive read.**_ **My focus has been horrible lately, so please forgive any errors throughout the story as far as word repetition/general clumsiness goes. I'll be reading over everything with a fresh eye in the next few weeks in case there's any errors that need to be fixed. Until next time, please review and tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from everyone after such a long break. By the way, if anyone is curious about where I am between updates, feel free to check out my new YouTube channel "Carlisle Grimm". I uploaded a video about my "Dream Eating Monochrome Baku" collection and figured anyone reading this might be interested in that. If anyone's curious I'll release my twitter username as well, but I generally just post life stuff there and it tends to be more of a diary of my daily adventures which I'm sure is quite boring. Though at this point it may be the best way to communicate and keep everyone in the loop with my writing progress when I've seemingly disappeared without a trace, so let me know if you'd like that! Thanks!**

 **~xxx~**

Len arrived back at the institute feeling disheveled and flighty, his head crowded with thoughts he had neither the time or patience to quiet down. He glanced down at the rose still tightly clutched in his hand since he left Miku's room. Occasionally an image of the girl lying crumpled and sobbing on the floor of her room would flit across his mind, but he tried to ignore the thoughts for now. Slipping the bloom into his breast pocket, Len paused as he reached for one of the heavy double doors and grimaced as he noted his visibly trembling hands. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to allow the scent of the rose to calm his nerves with little success. Opening his eyes, the baku gripped the knob and pulled the door open, greeted by the familiar halls made of the same dark polished wood as the doors.

Aside from the echo of the door closing behind him, Len seemed to be entirely alone, though he knew to not be fooled by the sense of solitude he felt. While bakus were undoubtedly still out for the night, the varying time zones made for a constant stream of workers milling about the grounds. He felt his heart pound as he began briskly walking down the halls, each rapid click of his shoes reminding him to fight back the urge to run. He hated feeling nervous and wanted to shake it as soon as possible. The sensations of his stomach prickling and his head filling with dread made him feel vulnerable, which would only make the sensation heighten and add more agony to the emotion. After all the full moons he'd endured, he knew the sensation should die down, but it only got worse with each passing month. It didn't help that his experience with Miku had been… unconventional, to say the least, and he'd been going mad as he waited to see what would come of it. Another flash of Miku's face, stained in the teal gushing from her eyes came to his mind unbidden and made his stomach drop. He grimaced, unaccustomed to feeling remorse for actions directed towards his prey. This wasn't the first person Len had done this to, though he always hoped it was the last. A dangerous emotion he'd learned to suppress. Underneath his anxiety, he hated to admit that he always felt a sense of hope, even stronger than usual tonight, which would only make the consequential disappointment more difficult to work through. Still, he couldn't give up, not now, when his hands were stained red with his sins, not when he was so close. He couldn't reverse what he'd done, not with all the progress he'd made.

He only hoped that when it was all over she'd understand.

Len was ripped back into reality as he felt himself stumble over his own feet. He was breathless, unaware of how quickly he'd been moving since he'd gotten lost in his thoughts. With a scowl, he begrudgingly slowed his pace. Despite his relaxed appearance, his head was spinning as he meandered down the familiar corridors, adrenaline heightening his nervousness even more as he got closer to his quarters. Another baku would occasionally pass him in the hall, but would quickly be on their way after a word of greeting or a nod in Len's direction.

While it was convenient for the other bakus, Len had always hated living in the dormitories at the institute. As gorgeous and expansive as they were, he preferred to be reserved about his life and valued his privacy. It didn't help that he had to remain inconspicuous or risk getting found out, all his efforts wasted by one wrong move. Still, despite his concerns of privacy, gaining freedoms like his unlimited access to the human world meant working for the institute had its benefits.

He turned a corner and tried to stop himself from scowling when he caught a glimpse of a brown and pink haired pair.

" _Damn,"_ he hissed, eying the familiar women as they continued their animated conversation. He straightened when they turned to the sound of someone walking down the hall. The bakus waved Len down as he approached and he begrudgingly managed a cordial smile.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Len!" the short brown haired baku called, resting a hand on her hip as she eyed the boy.

"Meiko. Luka." Len replied as he nodded to them both in greeting.

The pink haired baku, Luka, smiled at the boy and tucked a long lock of hair behind her ear. "I haven't seen you around lately. Have you been busy?"

"Very. And how are you both on this lovely evening?" Len replied coolly.

"Can't complain," Meiko laughed.

"What a pretty flower," Luka commented, her face brightening as she pointed at the rose still grasped in the boy's hand.

Meiko grinned mischievously. "A pretty girl must've given it to him."

He glanced down at the rose as if he'd forgotten it was there, then shot the women a coquettish look. "I suppose you could say that," he smiled with an obviously feigned innocence.

Meiko laughed and elbowed him gently. "Ugh, Len, I'm so jealous. I want gifts from my contractees, too!" Meiko laughed.

Luka placed a finger to her cheek as she pondered the comment. "Now that you mention it, I can't recall the last time a human has given me a present."

"Len just gets all the good humans I guess. Maybe you can send a few my way?" Meiko teased with a snicker.

Len laughed. "I can't promise you anything, I'm quite efficient with my clients."

"Aren't we all," Luka yawned knowingly. "I'm sorry to leave so quickly but if you two will excuse me, I'm going to get some rest." Luka reached for a nearby door, the air around the knob sparkling pink for a few seconds before the door clicked open. The woman waved goodnight as she slipped into her chamber.

Meiko leaned in confidentially. "She's been out making new contracts almost every night," she explained in hushed tones. "She might be trying to expand her ward."

Len raised his eyebrows and looked at the door leading to Luka's room. "Impressive."

The brown haired woman sighed. "I feel tired just looking at her! I think I need a break, too..." She shot Len a smile. "I should probably get going. Where you headed?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Len waved vaguely down the direction of the hall. "Though I could use some rest myself…"

"I understand. I'll talk to you later then, yeah?"

Len nodded in agreement and smiled as Meiko passed him and walked down the hall.

She turned and grinned. "And don't forget to save some of the cute ones for the rest of us!"

"We'll see!" Len laughed and watched the girl retreat, his smile dropping once he was sure the baku was gone. He waited a moment more, and headed in the opposite direction of Meiko, praying he didn't run into any more acquaintances searching for a chat.

Just looking at him, he was certain they couldn't have possibly been able to tell that anything was wrong. His clothes were neat, his hair well kempt, same as every other day he passed them in the halls and stopped for a chat. As always, everything about him seemed entirely flawless and unassuming, though he was still amazed they couldn't hear his heart practically beating out of his chest or somehow see just how panicked and desperate he was feeling when they talked with him. He shook his head and tried to calm himself. Of course they couldn't tell. He'd never allow himself to make such a foolish mistake. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he did and another baku discovered what he'd been up to, and he certainly wasn't about to find out. Still, small talk had never been more painful and each second of the conversation had been agony, only serving to make him more tense than ever after the discussion. Even if he played it off, talking about work never failed to make him feel antsy and Luka noticing the rose didn't help his fraying nerves.

His ever aching jaw pounded in protest with the new tension, and he tried to refrain from grinding his teeth as his mind turning once more to Miku of all people.

 _Of course,_ he thought irritably. She'd grown on him in the past few weeks whether he wanted to admit it or not. He'd almost felt bad for her when he'd ripped the color from those pretty little eyes, but he knew she wasn't worth the trouble and he couldn't feel bad about it. Not when he had to save the _real_ her. It didn't matter how similar Miku was, she wasn't her, but Len was still troubled by how far he'd let himself go with Miku. No, that wasn't it. He was more than accustomed to using his body to get what he wanted. Rather, it was the amount of emotion he'd almost unconsciously poured into the girl, and now after it was all said and done, it was the reason he was still even bothering to think about her. All that love, the trust and adoration she displayed for him, even in the end, disgusted him. He hated her for being so blind, so naive to what he really was. More than anything he hated her for making him prove her wrong.

Len arrived at his door with no more interruptions, his heart beating and his head light. He wasted no time in bursting through the door. After making sure it was firmly shut behind him, he walked straight through his parlour, pausing before a long curtain that hung on the wall. He pulled it away, and instead of the typical window one would assume lay hidden behind the fabric, there was instead a door. He pulled a key from a pocket inside his suit, an uncommon object in the world of bakus who used custom magical wards to keep others out of their spaces. Of course the key was enchanted so nobody else could use it, just in case he ever _did_ lose it, though as constantly as he made sure it was on his person at all times, he could never imagine anyone else finding it, much less knowing what it was supposed to be for.

Len slid the key into the lock and turned the knob, greeted by the scent of roses in full bloom the moment he opened the door. What would in any other room be a private area for a baku to rest in lay bare of any furnishings aside from a dimly lit chandelier and a large brown coffin, filled to the brim with blooming crimson red roses. Inside lay a girl, wraith-like, aside from her cheeks glowing pale pink. Her green hair framed soft features and billowed around her, a sharp contrast to the bed of blood red roses that grew around and over her from every side. If not for the coffin being used as a makeshift bed, she could have been mistaken for having simply fallen into a peaceful, deep sleep. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Len reached out to place the newest rose into the girl's coffin, and paused, unable to bring himself to drop it in. His hand was trembling and his stomach turned in anticipation as he looked down at the girl. She seemed even more alive than ever before, her breathing deep and rhythmic, her complexion warm and rosy.

"Gumi," he whispered pleadingly. He cursed the tremor in his voice, how readily tears sprung to his eyes when he so much as spoke her name aloud. As always, his plea was met with silence.

Averting his gaze, Len collected himself as quickly as possible. If he allowed his emotions to get the best of him now, he knew he couldn't handle whatever was about to come. He relaxed for a moment and stopped fighting, allowing his thoughts to finally wander to where they'd been trying go all night- Miku. He wondered how she'd managed to enter Gumi's dreamworld and if it meant she was truly regaining consciousness again. Was she finally waking up, or had Miku simply been special, an odd fluke that would never amount to anything more? He couldn't allow himself to believe that it was only coincidental. They were painfully similar, so much that Len wasn't sure if his heart would shatter on the spot or stop beating the moment he left Miku's side. Could that have had something to do with Gumi's odd appearance?

Regardless of how he felt for Miku now, her interaction with the girl had comforted him greatly, but also opened up new uncertainties he'd never needed to address before. At least one thing was certain; he could finally rest easy knowing that she wasn't in pain and was dreaming quite sweetly thanks to his tireless efforts. Perhaps his sins hadn't been committed in vain.

Still, this new change was concerning. With the girl's emergence of consciousness came a flood of new questions and few hints that would lead to real answers.

Surely Miku's interaction with her couldn't possibly be some sick accident, he couldn't allow himself to believe it. And if she was finally able to communicate in the dreamworld with others, how long would it be until she'd finally come to? More than anything else that question festered within him and endlessly haunted his thoughts. He could handle any other obstacle this task threw at him, but the most important question still persisted, hopeful, yet terrifying; was she to wake soon, or would she continue to be out of his reach, so close yet so painfully, impossibly far?

With his hand stretched out over the coffin, he felt more alone than ever before. Would he finally be able to once again be with the person he loved more than anything else in the world, or would he be filled with even more despair and disappointment with this failure? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, or if he could handle the truth of what was just a drop of a rose away from the answer.

He clenched the stem tighter in his hand, feeling the thorns test the leather of his glove with a dull ache that all but disappeared as he struggled to force his thoughts into submission. The situation at hand grew distant as he grappled with the sudden wave of remembrance taking hold of his mind.

 _~x~_

 _Four years earlier_

 _~x~_

It was an empty, cloudless night, with not even a sliver of light from the moon to brighten up the darkness, let alone the baku's horrible mood as he wandered the lonely streets. While Len usually enjoyed time to himself in the human world, he'd been feeling restless and uneasy as of late, and the walk was doing nothing to fix his sour mood. Not that it mattered, really. The stroll wasn't entirely for leisure, they never were. He was a baku, after all, and bakus preferred to find themselves walking amongst humans only when they were hunting for a meal. They'd never admit it, though. They preferred to believe they were doing it because of the inherent goodness their kind held within them, that they actually benefitted in other ways when they helped humans get over their petty nightmares. The baku sneered at the thought of his colleagues bothering to help such a weak and pitiful species out of the goodness of their hearts. Once his training had been complete, Len had quickly stopped believing that bakus truly helped humans out of benevolence and nothing more. As far as Len was concerned, humans stopped being anything more than a source of sustenance a long time ago. He was never told how thankless and exhausting his job could be in training, but over time he quickly discovered just how tedious it could be. After proving his abilities as a baku, he was assigned a ward to watch over. Within those borders, he was free to roam in search of troubled humans in need of a good night's rest. And so, on many nights Len would wander the streets, more for personal enjoyment than in search of humans who required his assistance. He wasn't too concerned with seeking them out. He'd know when a suffering human was close by the scent, and after a contract was made he'd be at their service until the nightmares went away.

This never took very long, though. He was good at what he did, which meant most of his contractees didn't know him for more than a few nights. And while most bakus tried to help as many humans as possible in the shortest amount of time, Len preferred quality over quantity, as he saw it. The most common type of human he would work with were those with recurrent nightmares. It gave him a more concentrated meal and eliminated lots of the "paperwork" that came with the job. Not all humans were bad, of course. Once in a blue moon there would be an exception. If he wasn't too hungry and the human was interesting enough, he'd stick around for a short while and scare off the bad dreams a bit more slowly. Inevitably he'd grow bored, take away their nightmares for good, and be on his way. He didn't think he was wrong for wanting a little change of pace now and again. After working for a while, he began to notice patterns. Eventually, humans became more and more similar, until they were all the same. He quickly grew used to sensing their discomfort and soon after being met with fear and distrust when he revealed himself and offered to help them, only to make a contract and be on his way, sometimes without even a 'thank you'. He'd stopped bothering to even look into their nightmares, all caused by stress or other trivial matters. As far as he was concerned, humans were only a food source for higher beings, his contracts an annoying necessity that got in the way of what he desired. Pathetic, frail, and needy creatures, Len pitied them for their helplessness and accepted that working with them was a necessary annoyance, reasoning that everyone has to eat, after all.

Len turned a corner and paused, suddenly still and alert. He begrudgingly adjusted his direction and began following a familiar scent, his curiosity getting the better of him. He reached his destination, admiring the architecture of the elegant white home that reached into the night sky. Stone steps flanked by towering columns lead to a spacious porch and a heavy looking door. Light, airy curtains covering soaring windows prevented the baku from peeking into the pristine home. On the second story a large window on either side of the home, accompanied by a large balcony, jutted out into the open air. Sensing the nightmares were coming from a room on the second floor, Len quickly appeared onto the balcony that led into the accompanying space. Before he entered the bedroom he stopped for a moment. Under the scent of nightmares was the gentle aroma of blooming roses carried on a light breeze. Though there was no moon in the sky, the sound of crickets' calls and wind passing through the trees made the night feel alive and peaceful. The balcony was spacious enough for a few people to stand on it at a time, a perfect place to relax, Len realized, and watch the stars if one so desired. Though he longed for nothing more than to lounge on the rails of the balcony and enjoy the suddenly pleasant night, the scent of nightmares lingered and were too provocative and mouth watering for the baku to pass up. With a flourish of his hand Len cast a sleeping spell over the home, a measure to prevent anyone aside from his potential contractee to wake up, and approached the double doors leading into the bedroom. While the doors were mostly large panes of glass, the same white, airy curtains from downstairs had been tied back, and allowed Len to see clearly into the room.

The space matched the exterior perfectly, everything the same shade of pristine white. He was unsure if the color made the house feel open and clean or lifelessly sterile. From his position he could see a large bed in the back right corner of the room. Whoever was in it was obscured slightly by a canopy draped over each bedpost. A nightstand stood beside it, the window above the table subtly illuminating parts of the room. Along the right wall was a large wardrobe and a full length mirror, both carved with ornate, flourishing patterns. On the left side of the room along the farthest wall was a towering bookcase filled with an array of colorful books and toys. He could make out a chest pressed against the wall and closer to his left was a round table and a few chairs, perfect for having tea.

Tired of standing around, Len pulled away from the window. Snapping his fingers, the doors opened soundlessly before him. His shoes met with a plush, springy carpet as he stepped into the room. He was greeted with quiet, halting sobs the moment he entered the space. Len approached the bed quietly and found the source of the crying. A young girl, no older than seventeen years old. She was deathly pale, her bright green hair dramatically enhanced against the white of her skin, nightdress, and sheets. Already alarmingly thin, curled up tightly in such a large bed made her look even smaller. Len fought back the urge to reach for the trembling girl and console her. Before he could speak, she turned towards him.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as she looked at him, piercing green eyes still wet with tears cemented his gaze to hers.

A moment of dizzying silence passed between them, the quiet broken suddenly by her voice.

"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely. Wiping her eyes with a sniff, she straightened and smiled sheepishly at the baku.

Len said nothing, only staring at the strange girl before him as she struggled for words.

"I didn't know anyone was there," she began to explain. "I'm so sorry you had to see me that way-"

"You're not afraid of me?" he ventured suspiciously.

The girl shook her head adamantly, the longer front strands of her hair whipping against her shoulders and face with comical insistence.

He felt strangely puzzled, unusually surprised by the girl's response to his arrival. By this time his potential contractees were already screaming, running out of the room, or throwing things at him. He was more accustomed to that type of behavior, expected it, really. Even he understood that hysterics were an understandable response to a stranger materializing unannounced into their room while they slept.

The girl watched him through her tears, more curious than shocked or afraid. Len took a slow step forward, his body tense as he approached.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" he hissed.

"Because I can tell you're a good person!" the girl insisted, her eyes widened with the boy's sudden change in demeanor.

"You don't find it unsettling that there's a stranger in your room?" he demanded more adamantly.

The girl tilted her head and furrowed her brow curiously. "Shouldn't my guardian angel always know where I am?"

Len buried his face in his hands, a stupefied chuckle escaping his lips.

"My dear," he began, lifting his face from his hands with another laugh, "you have me utterly bewildered."

"What do you mean?" she ventured hesitantly.

"I can't tell if you're clueless or the most utterly stupid human I've ever met."

"Excuse me?!" she demanded defensively. "What do you mean by that?!"

"I simply mean that someone who believes in guardian angels is horrifically misinformed."

The baku laughed as the girl's face turned bright red, but paused when he noticed her lip beginning to tremble.

"Young lady," Len stuttered falteringly when the girl's eyes began to well with tears, "I believe we've gotten off to a poor start."

The girl sniffled and nodded, but avoided the baku's gaze.

Len huffed in exasperation, but carried on. "You see, I simply found the idea of you mistaking me for an angel to be a bit…" he hesitated for a moment.

"What?" she demanded with a pout.

"... well, absurd." Len tried to stifle a laugh, but regained his composure when her eyes flicked towards him. When she looked away he cleared his throat.

"Why?" she replied shortly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, you see, most people see me as the exact opposite."

The girl finally looked at the boy again, curiosity filling her eyes. "What? Why?!"

He shrugged lightly. "I'm called a baku. We can be referred to as 'demons', but some of us prefer 'dream eaters'."

"I see…" she responded thoughtfully, though Len couldn't imagine that was truly the case.

"So… you're here to eat my dreams?" she ventured excitedly.

"Well… yes…" the baku replied. "Your nightmares, rather. If you make a contract with me, I'll take all those horrible dreams away from you."

"Really?! That's amazing!" she responded excitedly. "And then you eat them?"

"Precisely," the baku responded with a grin.

"Okay, deal!" the girl exclaimed, extending her hand towards the boy.

Len blankly stared at her outstretched pinky finger. When he didn't respond to the girl's insistent hand wiggling she sighed.

"What?" Len asked suspiciously.

"It's a pinky promise," she explained incredulously. "You know, to seal the deal?"

"I've never heard of that," he responded.

"Well what do you normally do?"

"... I simply make the contract."

"That's no fun," the girl responded with a laugh. "Can't we do it this way?"

"I suppose," Len sighed and goodnaturedly extended his own hand.

After the two linked fingers, the girl pulled away with a smile.

"So when will the nightmares go away?" she wondered aloud.

The baku shrugged. "It depends on the person. If the dreams are reoccurring a stronger contract will be in order, but it never takes longer than a full moon."

"That's not long at all!" she replied in awe.

Len shrugged. "We're very good at our jobs."

"I can tell," the girl replied and yawned. "Pardon me."

"I don't mind," he responded. "Though it's best for you to get back to sleep now."

She nodded with a smile and Len looked away, trying to stop the urge to tuck her into bed. Once she was comfortably under her sheets, Len waved his hand over her eyes. Flickers of gold and purple light twinkled over the girl's head. The only predictable part of the night, her eyes began to droop. Len sighed in relief and turned to leave.

"Wait!" she called back to the boy.

He turned, wondering what she possibly had to say now. "Yes, young lady?"

"You keep calling me that, but what can I call you? What's your name?"

He hesitated, unsure if he should tell her. Nobody asked, and he preferred not to say, but the insistently curious look in her eyes made him crumble.

"My name is Len," he finally replied.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Len!" the girl smiled brightly.

He felt his stomach flutter as she said his name. "The pleasure's all mine, young lady."

"You said it again!" she teased with a laugh. "My name's Gumi. I'll see you around!"

"Yes, you will," he responded absently. He turned and opened the balcony doors. Once he was sure they were firmly shut, he looked up at the sky, now many shades brighter as the sun began to make its daily ascent. He closed his eyes, feeling the last cool traces of night caress his face as he breathed in deeply.

"Goodnight, Gumi."


End file.
